Direct Airline Service From U.S. to Venezuela Resumes

After a seven-year absence, direct airline flights between the U.S. and Venezuela resumed Thursday when an American Eagle flight took off from Miami for Caracas. Strained relations between the two countries precluded direct service, but the new relationship between them in the wake of the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro allowed for the new route. American is operating a single flight per day from Miami but told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that it will add a second daily flight on May 21. The aircraft was an Embraer E170 operated by American subsidiary Envoy Air.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy heralded the flight as “a critical milestone in strengthening the United States relationship with Venezuela and unleashing economic opportunity in both countries.” There’s no word on how many passengers were on the flight, but for a three-hour hop the cost of a ticket topped $1,200, according to Yahoo Business. There have been no announcements from other airlines regarding resumption of service they suspended in 2017 due to growing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.