Caracas Airport Reopens to Passengers as Conviasa A340-600 Boards for Mexico

MAIQUETÍA, Venezuela — Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS), the principal airport serving Caracas, resumed domestic and international passenger operations Tuesday from temporary terminals, just under ten weeks after two earthquakes damaged the complex and halted regular commercial passenger flights.

By mid-morning, passengers bound for Mexico were climbing a set of airstairs onto a Conviasa (V0) Airbus A340-600, having been bused to the aircraft from a modular departure hall erected in the airport's parking areas.

Photographs supplied to Airways from inside the airport by contributor artist and researcher Javier León document the sequence: check-in queues under a striped tent roof, a seated international waiting area, an IAIM sign reading "PUERTA 03," a crowded apron bus, and passengers stepping aboard.

As of the last images supplied at about 10:13 local time, passengers were aboard and the aircraft was still on stand, past its 10:00 scheduled departure. By 12:56 local time, two community ADS-B feeds were receiving the Conviasa callsign at 36,000ft over the western Caribbean, establishing that the flight was airborne. Neither feed supplied an off-block or takeoff time.

Passengers Return Through Tent Terminals

The reopening runs through modular structures built in the airport's parking areas while repairs to the main terminal continue. The provisional international departure area has four boarding gates, with passengers transferred by bus to aircraft stands, according to details attributed to the airport authority. The international facility is rated for 780 passengers and the domestic side for 480.

Venezuela's transport ministry said the initial operation would handle approximately 25%-33% of the airport's usual flight volume. That makes the reopening an operational bridge rather than a return to the pre-earthquake terminal.

The June 24 earthquakes struck 33 seconds apart: magnitude 7.2 east of San Felipe, then magnitude 7.5 west of Catia La Mar, according to USGS event records. Infobae reported that the latest official death toll had risen to 6,509. The quakes damaged the Maiquetía terminal, and more than 110 scheduled flight movements were expected to be disrupted on June 25.

Regular passenger traffic stopped, cargo operations returned to the airport on August 5, and several carriers temporarily shifted scheduled service to Valencia, Barcelona and other Venezuelan airports.

The Departure Board Settles a Destination Question

A photograph of the temporary terminal's flight information display, supplied to Airways at about 09:27 local time, listed the next international departures: V0 3726 to "SANTA LUCIA MEX" at 10:00, GlobalX (G6) 201 to Miami at 12:30, Copa Airlines (CM) 222 to Panama City at 13:37, and Air Europa (UX) 072 to Madrid at 21:00.

The board also puts the destination beyond doubt. Conviasa's Tuesday service to "Santa Lucía" is Santa Lucía, Mexico—the area of Zumpango, in the State of Mexico, served by Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU), one of the airports serving Mexico City. It is not Saint Lucia, the Caribbean country.

On the published schedule, nothing international was due out of Maiquetía earlier. The GlobalX-operated Miami service listed by Laser Airlines was set for 12:30, Copa's Panama City rotation for 13:37 and Air Europa's Madrid flight for 21:00. Avianca's first Caracas departure falls on September 2, and American Airlines, LATAM Colombia and Plus Ultra were not due back until later in the month.

Conviasa's other international route from Maiquetía, to Havana, runs Wednesdays and Fridays, so it did not fall on a Tuesday. Union Radio's correspondent at the airport reported that the reopening's first departure overall was domestic, a Conviasa service to Valera that would have left at 08:00, with a Rutaca flight to Porlamar expected later in the morning.

The timetable still does not establish what actually left first. The display was supplied at about 09:27 and showed only departures from 10:00 onward, so an earlier movement would already have cleared the screen, and no public source published actual off-block times for the day. Airways is not calling any flight the first international departure out of Caracas without a movement log.

Trackers and the Apron Disagreed

Flight-status pages did not align with each other or with the scene at the airport. Trip.com, using VariFlight data, displayed V0 3726 as canceled, while a published-timetable display still carried the 10:00 slot and Airways photographs showed boarding in progress. Community ADS-B feeds returned no aircraft under the Conviasa callsign for the flight in the hour after its scheduled time.

The initial absence of an ADS-B track was not decisive. The picture changed after midday: adsb.lol and adsb.fi were both receiving VCV3726 at 36,000ft by 12:56 local time. That positive movement record established the flight was airborne, although it did not provide an exact off-block or takeoff time.

For travelers, the sequence shows why a single third-party status page can be misleading during a phased reopening. The canceled label conflicted first with boarding at the airport and later with a positive airborne track.

Airlines Return on a Staggered Calendar

The restart extends well beyond Conviasa. Aeronautical-sector sources told El Pitazo that at least six foreign and two Venezuelan carriers had confirmed plans to use the temporary international terminals, enough for six to eight daily operations, with eight putting Maiquetía at roughly 30% of its operating capacity. The same sources said several airlines were still waiting on slot approvals from INAC.

Laser Airlines' (QL) Maiquetía schedule resumes from September 1 with Madrid Monday through Saturday, twice-weekly Santo Domingo flights and daily Miami service operated by GlobalX. Copa Airlines was due to fly a daily Panama City rotation from the same day. Air Europa said it would resume flights to and from Caracas on September 1, with five weekly Madrid frequencies.

Avianca (AV) scheduled the return of daily Bogotá–Caracas service, with the first Bogotá departure late on September 1 reaching Caracas early on September 2 and the first Caracas departure on September 2; the carrier marks the timetable subject to government approval. Iberia (IB) plans to restore its Caracas operation progressively from September 3. American Airlines (AA) was due to restart twice-daily Miami–Caracas service on September 3, LATAM Colombia on September 4 and Plus Ultra on September 8.

An airport reopening date does not mean every carrier, route and frequency returns the same day. Several airlines announced a September 1 return in general terms while their first outbound Caracas leg falls later. Others are keeping routes at Valencia or Barcelona, Venezuela (BLA) for now, including Laser's Bogotá service, while Maiquetía rebuilds capacity. Bookings for United Airlines' (UA) planned Houston–Caracas service now start in January 2027.

Repairs to the permanent terminal are continuing, and authorities have not set a date for the full complex to return to its previous capacity. For now, Caracas has regained scheduled passenger connectivity through a smaller ground operation of tent halls, apron buses and airstairs. On the first morning, the view from the ramp established boarding hours before community tracking caught up with the flight.