USDOT approves American Airlines flights to Venezuela

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday it has approved ⁠American Airlines’ request to ‌operate U.S. flights ‌to Caracas ⁠and ⁠Maracaibo in Venezuela from Miami through ​its wholly owned regional carrier Envoy.

​U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ​rescinded ⁠a 2019 ‍order in January that barred U.S. airlines from ⁠flying to Venezuela after President Donald Trump ⁠directed him to make the move.

American Airlines plans to resume  services to Venezuela for the first time ⁠in more than six years. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration was in Caracas last week to review airport security procedures, sources told Reuters, a step needed to resume flights.

USDOT’s order is valid for two years. American did not immediately respond to a request for comment on resuming services. The company announced plans to resume service ‍just weeks after the U.S. military seized the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro.

Trump in January asked USDOT to lift restrictions that currently bar U.S. flights after a discussion with the country’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

American, which started operating in Venezuela in 1987, suspended service to the country in 2019 ‌after the U.S. ban. It said the planned daily ​flights will provide the opportunity for business, leisure and humanitarian travel. It was the largest U.S. airline in the country before the suspension.

The State Department added Venezuela to its “Do Not Travel” list for Americans in December and it has not removed that designation.

Military operations near Venezuela have raised serious concerns about the safety of aircraft operations in that country.

(Reporting by David Shepardson)