LATAM Airlines will restart nonstop flights between Santiago, Chile, and Caracas, Venezuela, starting January 3, 2027. The airline plans to offer four weekly flights using Airbus A320neo aircraft, more than two years after direct air links between the two countries were suspended. These flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, allowing travelers to travel directly between the two capitals without needing a transfer, particularly through Bogotá, where the airline already has a connection to Caracas. The new service marks a key step in LATAM's efforts to rebuild its presence in Venezuela. LATAM Airlines Colombia had already restored its Bogotá–Caracas flights in February 2026 and now operates this route daily. The flight duration is approximately 6 hours and 40 minutes, and the Airbus A320neo aircraft will offer 174 seats, with 12 in Premium Economy and 162 in economy class. The airline aims to transport more than 50,000 passengers during the first year of operations. Beyond the direct connection between the two capitals, LATAM intends to use Santiago as a hub to offer connections to other destinations in Chile and internationally. This new link complements the existing access to Venezuela from Bogotá. "We are strengthening the connectivity of Venezuela with our main hubs in South America. To the link that already connects Caracas to Bogotá, we now add the direct route with Santiago, which expands the travel options for our passengers and strengthens the integration of Venezuela into the LATAM network," said Juan José Tohá, director of institutional affairs and sustainable development of LATAM Airlines Group. For travelers departing from Chile, the change will be significant: the nonstop connection will eliminate the need to take a detour through Colombia to reach Caracas within the LATAM network. The group will continue to maintain two access points to the Venezuelan market, from both Bogotá and Santiago. Direct commercial flights between Chile and Venezuela had been suspended in September 2024, at the decision of the Venezuelan National Institute of Civil Aviation, the INAC. This suspension occurred amid heightened tensions between the two countries following the Venezuelan presidential election in July 2024, whose result declaring the victory of Nicolás Maduro was contested by the Chilean government. The measure was announced the day after a speech by Gabriel Boric before the United Nations General Assembly, in which the then-Chilean president described the Venezuelan government as a "dictatorship." The INAC did not publicly present its decision as a response to these statements. Chile criticized the suspension as unilateral and unjustified.