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The Venezuelan airline Laser Airlines has requested authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation to resume direct flights between Miami and Caracas, which have been suspended since 2019.
The company submitted a formal request for a foreign air transport permit and a temporary two-year exemption to operate regular and charter flights for passengers, cargo, and mail between Caracas, Valencia, and Maracaibo, and Miami.
According to the document, the application updates a previous request submitted in 2011 and reaffirms the airline's intention to return to the U.S. market.
"Given the time that has passed since your initial request and the changes that have occurred both within the company and in the proposed services, Laser Airlines is modifying the request for economic authorization for foreigners," the company stated.
If approved, the airline plans to offer two daily nonstop flights to the United States within a timeframe of 90 to 180 days.
The service would be conducted using Boeing 737, MD-80, or MD-90 aircraft with a capacity for 150 passengers, and in the future, it could incorporate larger Boeing 767 aircraft.
Laser Airlines estimates transporting around 172,800 passengers during its first year of direct operations.
Furthermore, he argues that the reopening of this route would meet the demand created by the exit of Santa Bárbara Airlines, which, before suspending its operations, operated two daily flights between Caracas and Miami.
In its request, the company emphasized that the resumption of flights would strengthen economic and family ties between both countries, as well as facilitate the transport of humanitarian aid, in a context of scarcity and reconstruction in Venezuela.
The airline acknowledged that “the political environment between the United States and Venezuela remains complex,” but insisted that operational licenses “should not be denied for political reasons.”
The request comes at a time of rapprochement between Caracas and Washington, as interim President Delcy Rodríguez collaborates with Donald Trump's administration to stabilize the country and facilitate the operation of American companies in strategic sectors such as energy and transportation.
Additionally, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Thursday the reopening of Venezuelan airspace for commercial flights, a decision that could represent a key turning point in regional mobility and in the relationship between Washington and Caracas.
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