On August 1st, 1987, American Airlines began service to Venezuela 
for the very first. Their first flight was from San Juan, PRI 
and over the years, have added service to 3 of their hubs including Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK and Miami. As the country continued to struggle, airlines left and also did American with them significantly scaling down flights to Caracas with the SJU and DFW flights being cut on July 1st, 2014 and JFK being axed on April 4th, 2016. From April 2016 to March 2019, AA only offered a 2x daily service from Miami, FL 
to CCS. Their primary competitors of Delta and United Airlines both suspended their remaining services to Caracas on September 16th, 2017 and June 30th, 2017 respectively. AA remained committed to serving the country up until March 15th, 2019 when after their pilots and flight attendants refused to work those flights given the safety risks and economic crisis in the country. At that point, American pulled out of Venezuela after 32 years, soon after that, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a flight ban on the country prohibiting flights from and to the United States 
from Venezuela At that point, it seemed like hope was lost on the connections between the 2 countries both on an aviation and political scale. All of that changed on January 30th, 2026 after a military operation in the capital city and the DOT reopening the airspace, American Airlines announced they were returning to serving CCS and even Maracaibo. After 3 months of careful planning with governments from both countries, assessing airport security and other factors. Today on April 30th, 2026, Envoy Air flight 3599, an Embraer E175 flying for American Eagle, took to the skies from MIA on its way to CCS with paying passengers. This marks the first time a US airline has flown to Venezuela since the airspace closure 7 years ago. A TSA worked at MIA told CNN when checking boarding passes said “Caracas? I’ve not seen that destination in a while.” A very emotional moment for a lot of Venezuelan-Americans living in the 305 and as a frequent visitor to Latin America in game, I KNEW I had to do this flight on resumption day and that’s what I did.
Random Florida fact
Florida is home to the most Venezuelan’s in the United States, 474,000 as of 2024 to be exact
Origin: Miami Intl (MIA/KMIA)
Destination: Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International (CCS/SVMI)
Flight Time: 2:44
Embraer E175 (American Airlines)
Server: Expert
American Airlines Embraer E175 pulling into gate 16 at CCS from MIA, the first time this can be said since 2019. The only thing missing from this picture is a water cannon salute which I cannot add.