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Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has announced that Caracas’s main international airport will reopen to commercial flights “as soon as possible,” following severe damage caused by last month’s devastating earthquakes.
Simon Bolivar International Airport, located in La Guaira just north of the capital, has been operating partially for humanitarian flights since twin quakes struck on June 24.
The disaster, one of the deadliest in Latin America in recent years, flattened residential areas, killed nearly 3,700 people and left thousands missing.
Rodriguez said an alternative runway would be used to restore operations. “I ordered the immediate activation of a plan to resume commercial flights as soon as possible using the airport’s parallel runway,” she said in a message posted on Telegram.
US military personnel and technical experts have been assisting in restoring airport operations and repairing the heavily damaged La Guaira port to ensure the steady flow of aid and supplies.
Around 2,000 US troops remain deployed in Venezuela as part of the relief effort.
US embassy Charge d’Affaires John Barrett said discussions were underway with American airlines to restart flights, though some infrastructure work remains incomplete.
US Southern Command chief General Francis Donovan added that military teams continue to support air traffic control and cargo handling.
Nearly two weeks after the 7.3 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, rescue operations are winding down, with hopes of finding survivors fading.’
Authorities have raised the death toll to 3,685, with about 17,000 people injured.
Thousands remain homeless, living in tents or temporary shelters, particularly in La Guaira, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble. Families continue to search for missing loved ones amid the debris.
“We’re not leaving until we recover the bodies,” said Lazaro Rubio, whose wife and two daughters remain trapped under a collapsed building. “It’s my duty.”
The United Nations estimates the disaster caused $6.7 billion in damage—around six percent of Venezuela’s GDP—and warned that tens of thousands may still be unaccounted for.
Aid agencies are seeking urgent funding to support survivors as the country grapples with the aftermath amid ongoing economic and political challenges.