American Airlines Lands in Caracas for First Time in 7 Years, Ending U.S. Ban on Venezuela Flights

Seven years after Washington barred U.S. carriers from Venezuelan skies, American Airlines Flight AA3599 touched down in Caracas Thursday — carrying energy officials, separated families, and a clear signal that Venezuela is once again open for business.

American Airlines Flight AA3599 landed Thursday at Simón Bolívar International Airport, restoring the first direct commercial passenger service between the United States and Venezuela since the U.S. government imposed a blanket flight ban in 2019.

The departure from Miami International Airport’s Gate D55 — draped in Venezuelan flags and yellow, blue, and red balloons — lifted off at 10:16 a.m. ET and touched down at Maiquetía at 1:36 p.m. ET. The airline plans to operate the route daily, with a second round trip beginning May 21.

For the estimated 1.2 million Venezuelans living in the United States, the flight collapsed a journey that had ballooned to as long as 20 hours through connecting hubs in third countries back to roughly three and a half hours nonstop.

The Regulatory Path

The legal architecture for Thursday’s flight came together quickly after the January 2026 capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces. The Department of Transportation issued Order 2026-1-24 on Jan. 29, formally rescinding Order 2019-5-5, which had suspended all U.S. carrier authority to serve Venezuela on public interest grounds. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — acting on a directive from President Donald Trump — determined that the continued prohibition no longer served the public interest.

The Department of Homeland Security provided a secondary clearance on April 15, concluding that conditions in Venezuela no longer threatened the safety or security of passengers or crew. The Transportation Security Administration conducted an on-site security assessment at Simón Bolívar International Airport in March, evaluating screening infrastructure against international standards before clearing the facility for commercial operations.

A Critical Safety Caveat

The resumption carries a significant asterisk. The Federal Aviation Administration maintains a Category 2 rating for Venezuela under its International Aviation Safety Assessment program — a designation indicating that the country’s civil aviation authority, INAC, does not provide oversight in compliance with minimum international standards. Under that classification, Venezuelan carriers are prohibited from flying their own aircraft into the United States.

That restriction has produced an unusual market dynamic: Laser Airlines, expected to be the second carrier on the route, plans to use Airbus A320-200 aircraft wet-leased from GlobalX when it begins service in May 2026.

The State Department updated Venezuela’s travel advisory from Level 4 “Do Not Travel” to Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” in March 2026. The agency continues to warn of violent crime, armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, and inadequate health infrastructure. Travelers are specifically cautioned against nighttime transit between Maiquetía and central Caracas due to carjacking and irregular armed groups. U.S. government employees require special authorization to travel outside the capital.

The Aircraft and Its Symbolism

American operated the flight through Envoy Air, its wholly owned regional subsidiary, on an Embraer 175 registered as N341MB and delivered to Envoy on March 27, 2026. The jet carries the airline’s commemorative “America250” livery — large “250” lettering in red, white, and blue along the fuselage and a Betsy Ross flag on the engine nacelles — marking both the nation’s semiquincentennial and American Airlines’ own centennial year from 1926 to 2026.

The E175 seats 76 passengers in a dual-class configuration: 12 First Class and 64 Main Cabin. Two General Electric CF34-8E turbofan engines power the aircraft to a cruising speed of Mach 0.82, or 545 mph. Its maximum range of 2,200 nautical miles makes the roughly 1,100-nautical-mile Miami–Caracas hop well within its operational envelope.

Energy at the Center

Jarrod Agen, executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council, was aboard the inaugural flight, headed to Caracas for meetings with Venezuelan officials and energy executives. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, approximately 303 billion barrels, yet production has languished near 1 million barrels per day following years of mismanagement and sanctions. Analysts estimate restoring the country’s aging energy infrastructure to half its previous capacity would require between $15 billion and $20 billion in new investment.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has already issued licenses — GL 46A, GL 47, and GL 48 — authorizing oil sales and the supply of equipment for energy exploration. Analysts at Jefferies noted that Latin America accounted for 13% of American Airlines’ 2025 passenger revenue, a share the airline expects to grow as Venezuelan demand recovers.

High Fares, Higher Demand

Initial round-trip tickets for late April were priced above $2,700. Economy fares for May are expected to fall to approximately $1,000, while business class seats range from $3,000 to $3,900. The April 30 inaugural sold out shortly after going on sale.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava noted the human stakes of Thursday’s departure, observing that the resumed service allows parents separated from children, and grandparents from grandchildren, to reconnect after years of enforced distance. A persistent logistical hurdle remains: there is no Venezuelan consulate in Miami to provide passport or visa services, leaving many travelers to rely on Venezuela’s SAIME immigration website. Routine U.S. consular services for Americans in Venezuela are handled through the embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.

American’s Long Road Back

American Airlines has operated in Venezuela since 1987 and was the largest U.S. carrier in the country before halting service in 2019. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines had exited the market two years earlier, in 2017, as Venezuela’s economy collapsed under hyperinflation that surpassed 4,000% annually. American was the last major U.S. carrier to leave.

The airline has disclosed plans to evaluate restoration of service to Maracaibo, Venezuela’s oil-producing hub, as bilateral ties continue to develop.