Aegis Air launches Miami-Caracas by-the-seat charter service at $3,750 per seat

Aegis Air will launch by-the-seat private jet flights between Miami and Caracas on October 20, 2026, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons. The service will operate two weekly round trips at $3,750 per seat each way, using Miami Opa-Locka Executive Airport and Caracas's Simón Bolívar International Airport.

The start-up is being founded by Frank Ornstein, CEO of Hospitality Investors Group, and Ross Thompson, founder of medical and security membership provider Covac Global. Thompson says the service "fills the gap" for bankers, business executives, diplomats, lawyers, and wealthy diaspora flying to Caracas. He describes the plan as building a network similar to JSX in the Western United States but across the Caribbean and Latin America, making Aegis Air "the JSX of Latin America and the Caribbean."

Aegis Air will operate the service using an Embraer E135 regional jet wet-leased from Los Angeles-based Aero. The aircraft has 16 leather seats in a 1×1 configuration. Southbound departures are scheduled for 9 am and northbound returns at 2 pm, with flying time just over three hours. All flights will operate as a scheduled Part 380 public charter, and the service will use private terminals to create a private jet-like experience on the ground.

Ornstein served as vice president of development at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in the 1970s and has developed hospitality projects including the Four Seasons Buenos Aires, InterContinental Toronto, and Hyatt Regency Cartagena. Thompson's Covac Global describes itself as a medical repatriation membership program and pioneer in pandemic evacuation assistance.

The pricing undercuts commercial alternatives. American Airlines started flights from Miami International Airport to Caracas in April after a seven-year gap, with business class seats currently selling for $958 to $1,840 each way. Blade is using the same lessor, Aero, to relaunch its BladeOne between New York and South Florida on a similar wet-lease basis.

Aegis Air expects to launch flights from Houston to Caracas soon, followed by service from Washington, D.C., though the reporting does not say when those routes will begin or whether they will operate on the same schedule and pricing as the Miami service.