Air Europa is the first Spanish airline to resume flights with Venezuela, ahead of Plus Ultra, which will do so at the beginning of March, and Iberia, which plans to resume flights in April
A flight from Spain arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday night, the first from Europe since the capture of Nicolás Maduro during a United States military operation on January 3.
According to a flight tracking portal, a Boeing 787 operated by Spanish airline Air Europa landed at Maiquetia International Airport in Caracas shortly after 9pm local time (1am today in Lisbon).
Airport authorities confirmed to the France-Presse news agency that the flight had arrived.
Air Europa’s first flight to Venezuela, after three months of temporary suspension of operations between Spain and the South American country, took off on Tuesday afternoon from Madrid’s Barajas airport.
Air Europa is the first Spanish airline to resume flights with Venezuela, ahead of Plus Ultra, which will do so at the beginning of March, and Iberia, which plans to resume flights in April.
According to the Spanish press, Iberia assesses safety conditions before announcing a date for resuming flights to Venezuela.
The Portuguese flag airline TAP will resume flights to Venezuela on March 30, after the suspension that began in November 2025, an official company source told Lusa.
Air Europa, a company in the Globalia group, will gradually reactivate operations to the South American country with three weekly flights in February, which will be expanded to four during the first three weeks of March and then to five.
Colombian airline Avianca and Panamanian airline Copa, as well as their low-cost subsidiary Wingo, had already resumed operations. North American American Airlines indicated its intention to resume flights to Venezuela.
The interruption of flights occurred after warnings issued by the United States and Spain, which recommended caution when flying over Venezuelan airspace, at a time marked by increased military activity and a climate of political instability.
Shortly afterwards, Venezuelan authorities revoked the operating licenses of several international companies, including TAP, accusing them of having “joined in acts of terrorism” promoted by the United States, which generated criticism from aviation organizations and made it difficult to resume flights.
The context changed in January 2026, after a North American military operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, paving the way for the gradual reopening of Venezuelan airspace and the resumption of international commercial links.
On Thursday, January 29, the President of the United States announced that he would reopen Venezuela’s commercial airspace, allowing US citizens to visit the country “very soon”.
