American Airlines Could Resume Flights to Caracas This Month

American Airlines said today it plans to resume daily, nonstop flights between Miami and Caracas as soon as April 30, more than six years after the suspension of airline services linking the Venezuelan capital and the home of the largest population of Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S.

American is the first commercial airline to announce plans to reconnect the two countries. The news comes a little over a month after the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the company’s request to operate flights to Caracas ⁠and ⁠Maracaibo. American said today it is still working with regulators in both countries, and the April 30 date is subject to government approval. It will run the service through its subsidiary Envoy using Embraer 175 aircraft.

“American’s Miami hub is the preeminent U.S. gateway to Latin America, and our service to Venezuela is a key part of our history and our future,” the airline’s chief commercial officer, Nat Pieper, said in the statement. “Our commitment to connecting Venezuela with the U.S. spans more than 30 years, and we look forward to the new opportunities for commerce and strengthened ties with family and friends that our service will provide.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security suspended all commercial flights to Venezuela in May 2019, citing “the ongoing political instability and increased tensions in Venezuela and associated inadvertent risk to flight operations.” By that point, individual airlines had already paused commercial passenger flights between the two countries. American, which began operating in Venezuela in 1987 and became the largest U.S. airline in the country, was the last to make the move, in March 2019.

On February 13, in the wake of the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the airline applied to restart service to the country, USA Today reported. American wrote in its filing that approval “will further President Trump’s goal of reopening air service to Venezuela and serve the public interest by providing an opportunity for business, leisure, and humanitarian travel to the region.”

Nate Gatten, American’s executive vice president of American Eagle, corporate real estate and government affairs, said in today’s statement that the company is “encouraged” by the progress it has made with the American and Venezuelan governments. He added: “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.”

The State Department last month eased its travel warning about Venezuela from “Level 4: Do Not Travel” to “Level 3: Reconsider Travel,” removing risk indicators including “wrongful detention” and “unrest.” The current advisory tells Americans to reconsider travel due to the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure.