American Airlines Resumes Flights to Caracas Thursday — But the Airport It's Landing At Is Still Far From Whole

TOPSHOT - Pilots of American Airlines Flight 3599, operating from Miami International Airport to Caracas, Venezuela, wave Venezuelan and US flags before departing on a nonstop flight to Venezuela, the first between the US and Venezuela in seven years, at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on April 30, 2026. American Airlines is launching service between Miami and Caracas starting on April 30, becoming the first US carrier to offer service to Venezuela since 2019. The first direct flight between the United States and Venezuela in seven years took off Thursday, a new sign of a thaw after Washington deposed leftist leader Nicolas Maduro. The American Airlines flight took off at 10:26 am (1426 GMT) from Miami en route to Caracas, where the United States has resumed diplomatic relations after years of tension. (Credit: Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)

Thursday marks the return of something Miami's Venezuelan community has been counting down to for ten weeks: a nonstop flight linking Miami to Caracas, the only such route between the United States and Venezuela. American Airlines confirmed to the wire service EFE by email on Tuesday that service resumes September 3, closing a gap that opened June 24, when a magnitude-7.2 foreshock and a magnitude-7.5 mainshock struck Venezuela's central coast roughly 39 seconds apart and forced the shutdown of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, the country's lone gateway for direct U.S. flights.

A Community That Kept the Bridge Open Itself