American Airlines has positioned itself to be the first US airline to resume passenger service to Venezuela following the Trump administration’s directive to re-open the country’s airspace to commercial flights.
The Fort Worth-based carrier said on 29 January that it “plans to resume daily service pending government approval” and security clearances.
“We have a more than 30-year history connecting [Venezuelans] to the US, and we are ready to renew that incredible relationship,” says Nat Pieper, American’s chief commercial officer.
American does not specify which cities it plans to connect with renewed service to Venezuela, promising to “share additional details” in coming months. Notably, American maintains a major hub at Miami International airport.
The carrier previously operated to Venezuela from 1987 to 2019, but stopped flying to the South American country as diplomatic ties between the Trump administration and then-president Nicolas Maduro severed.
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) ordered the suspension of all commercial and cargo flights to Venezuela in May 2019.
On 3 January, an emergency NOTAM was issued prohibiting US civil aircraft from flying in Venezuelan airspace to make way for President Donald Trump’s brazen military operation to decapitate the Venezuela state via the capture of Maduro in Caracas.
That prohibition lasted roughly 24h and broadly disrupted commercial flights throughout the Caribbean.
Now, President Donald Trump – less than a month removed from Maduro’s capture – ordered Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to reopen Venezuelan airspace, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Duffy responded on X by saying the DOT is “clearing the way” for air travel to resume between the two countries.
The move is being hailed by ALTA – the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association – with chief executive Peter Cerda noting on social media that the long-standing NOTAM warning of “potentially hazardous situations in the Maiquetia FIR [flight information region]” has been lifted.
”Restoring safe and reliable air connectivity, both between Venezuela and the United States after almost a decade without direct service – and with other countries where operations were recently suspended – would be a significant step toward reconnecting families, enabling trade and supporting Venezuela’s broader economic recovery,” he says.
ALTA calls for a “safe and well-coordinated resumption of operations in this important market”, Cerda says.
