Nonstop flights from U.S. to Venezuela resume at Miami International Airport for first time in 7 years

Excitement was building at Miami International Airport on Thursday morning as American Airlines resumed nonstop flights from the United States to Venezuela for the first time in seven years.

This comes after the U.S. carrier suspended service to the South American country citing diplomatic fallout between the two nations.

The first flight from MIA to Caracas (CSS) departed after 10 a.m. and was operated by Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines.

A second daily flight between MIA and CSS is expected to begin in less than a month on May 21.

The announcement that these flights would resume is a significant step in the normalization of relations between the United States and Venezuela following the January capture of former president Nicolás Maduro.

The flights to Venezuela were halted in 2019 after the U.S. Department of State issued warnings about crime and the detention of American citizens.

Tickets for the inaugural flight on Thursday morning were sold out, and roundtrip tickets for flights in May are priced between $1,500 to $4,000.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made comments about the flights at an industry forum on Wednesday.

"I know that there's a lot of people in Florida who can't wait to go back to their homeland," he said. "To go back to see their families. And they couldn't make that happen. And by way of the President saying, "No, we're going to fly back to Venezuela,' and Robert saying, 'Well, I want American to fly back to Venezuela,' the meaning that that has for people, the way that you touch people's hearts, in a profound way, I think, sometimes we don't realize."

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Miami International Airport before the flight on Thursday morning, with several officials speaking about the historic event.