A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue truck gives a traditional water cannon salute to the inaugural Miami-Rome departure of an American Airlines plane.
Miami International Airport
Flights between Venezuela and South Florida are getting closer to reality, a welcome development for an expat community that has had limited options to return to their home country.
On Friday, a subsidiary of American Airlines requested that the U.S. Department of Transportation allow it to start commercial flights between Miami and Venezuela.
No timeline was given, but the company has said it’s moving quickly to resume what was once one of the airline’s more popular routes.
When American halted service in 2019, it was the largest U.S airline in Venezuela. The airline had been operating the route since 1987.
In recent years, there’ve been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela. Travelers have had to go through Peru, Panama or Colombia to connect. Others have to make the arduous journey on land from South America.
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Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines Group and previously known as regional carrier American Eagle, submitted a six-page application to the federal DOT for what’s called exemption authority. “Envoy will operate the initially planned service for American,” according to the document, which was obtained by the Miami Herald.
The smaller planes will all say “American” on their sides, and once reservations are allowed, travelers can make them on American Airlines’ website.
Envoy on Friday requested permission “to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail” between Miami and Caracas and Miami and Maracaibo, Venezuela. It requested approval for a period of at least two years.
The request comes after the January operation during which the U.S. military under orders from President Donald Trump removed and arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and brought them to New York.
The Trump administration left in place Delcy Rodríguez to lead Venezuela. She was previously Maduro’s No. 2 and is implicated in a host of human rights violations and acts of state repression including torture and killings. But the Trump administration has bet on leaving her in place as an effective way to lead to a gradual transition.
Meanwhile, Trump has sought to normalize economic relations.
On Jan. 24, he ordered “the Department and other concerned parties to take steps necessary to reopen air service to Venezuela.”
On Jan. 29, the Department of Transportation rescinded an order from 2019 that had suspended foreign air transportation between the United States and Venezuela. That day, American Airlines said it “plans to reinstate nonstop service between the United States and Venezuela” and “is ready to commence flights to Venezuela, pending government approval and security.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 2:04 PM.
Miami Herald
Vinod Sreeharsha covers tourism trends in South Florida for the Miami Herald.