American Airlines could resume flights to Venezuela within the month, officials said Thursday.
In a planning update, the carrier said that once all the necessary regulatory approvals are in place and security checks complete, service to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, could restart as soon as April 30. This is not a firm launch date, however, and American’s timeline could be pushed back for any number of reasons.
“American was the first airline to announce plans to restart service to Venezuela, and we are encouraged by the progress we’ve made with both governments,” Nate Gatten, American’s executive vice president of American Eagle, corporate real estate, and government affairs, said in a news release. “We are grateful for the efforts of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the entire administration to help us reconnect the U.S. with Venezuela. Our return wouldn’t be possible without this strong partnership.”
American plans to offer daily nonstop service between Miami and Caracas using Embraer E175 aircraft. It will operate the route through one of its subsidiaries, Envoy Air.
The carrier also plans to connect to Maracaibo, also via Miami.
Relations between Washington and Caracas have normalized somewhat since the January ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. That same month, the Transportation Department canceled a 2019 order banning U.S. passenger and cargo flights to and from Venezuela, and in March the department approved American’s planned service from Miami.
