US-Venezuela flights to resume in new sign of thaw

The first direct flight between the United States and Venezuela in seven years was set to take off yesterday, a new sign of a thaw after Washington deposed leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

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The American Airlines flight was scheduled to take off at 10.16am (local time) from Miami en route to Caracas, where the United States has resumed diplomatic relations after years of tension.

To mark the occasion, representatives of the US government, the City of Miami, and the Venezuelan ambassador to Washington, Felix Plasencia, were to greet passengers before the flight departs Gate D55.

Media were expected to assemble when the flight lands more than three hours later at Simon Bolivar Airport, better known as Maiquetia.