Transportation

First commercial flight between US, Venezuela in 7 years departs from Miami

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by Max Rego - 04/30/26 2:20 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/30/26 2:20 PM ET

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For the first time in seven years, a U.S. flight took off for Venezuela on Thursday.

The flight, operated by Envoy Air — a subsidiary of American Airlines — departed Miami International Airport at 10:11 a.m. EDT and landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport outside of Caracas, Venezuela, at 1:22 p.m. EDT, according to FlightAware.

The plane is scheduled to head back to Miami at 2:40 p.m. EDT and land back in the states at 6:11 p.m. EDT, according to the tracking site.

The State Department posted a video Thursday morning to social platform X of the American Eagle aircraft rolling down the runway. The flight will fly daily between Miami and Venezuela, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT).

In 2019, the DOT suspended all commercial and cargo flights to Venezuela after the Department of Homeland Security determined that “conditions” in the South American country “threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew.”

But after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, relations between the two governments have improved. Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president who took over in his absence, has released hundreds of political prisoners and eased restrictions on foreign investments in her country’s oil industry.

Earlier this month, the Treasury Department eased sanctions on state-run Venezuelan banks.

As of April 21, though, 473 political prisoners, including 43 foreigners, remain behind bars in Venezuela, according to Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights organization.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who joined State Department and local officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Miami on Thursday, touted the flight as a “critical milestone in strengthening the United States relationship with Venezuela and unleashing economic opportunity” in both countries.

“I am proud of our Department’s work behind the scenes to make this inaugural flight come to life, and I want to thank American Airlines for their continued commitment to servicing this essential aviation artery,” Duffy said in a release.

Nate Gatten, an executive vice president at American, said in the release that the company was “proud to be the first airline to resume service” between the two countries. Flights from Miami to Simón Bolívar airport throughout May are available on American’s website, with one-way tickets costing more than $1,000 as of early Thursday afternoon.

The DOT also noted that other U.S. carriers “have expressed a strong interest in restoring operations to Caracas and other locations across Venezuela.”

The department noted that it will “continue to review applications and provide updates in the coming months on new offerings.”

As of 2024, an estimated 1.2 million Venezuelans lived in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. Roughly 254,000 Venezuelans lived in the Miami metro area, while about 127,000 lived in the Orlando metro area.

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