Out of 191 flights per week, solely 83 stay

How did you get again to Buenos Aires from Caracas?this journalist requested a colleague who had coated the final one presidential elections in Venezuela. “I ended in Lisbon” He replied and it appeared like a joke. it wasn't. Because the Chavista regime was livid with regional neighbors for not recognizing Nicolás Maduro's obvious victory, the flights between Caracas and crucial air hubsresembling Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru, They’re closed.

This not solely presents a logistical downside for vacationers, however additionally it is a significant concern for airways.

The suspension of business flights from Venezuela to Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru, efficient July 31, It’s a “political” measure. with which the oil nation lowered its worldwide connectivity by 54%, The Affiliation of Venezuelan Airways (ALAV) denounced this Thursday.

Of the 181 worldwide flights per week that existed earlier than the measure, 83 stay, i.e. 98 much less, which is the same as about 15,000 weekly seats which can be now not accessiblethe chairman of the affiliation advised EFE, Marisela de Loaiza.

“We misplaced greater than half of the worldwide connection”stated the president of the union, who says that she doesn’t perceive the rationale for this measure, which – she warned – has an affect not solely on tourism, but additionally on tourism. in economics.

On July 29, the chief introduced the “non permanent suspension,” in opposition to the “intervention of right-wing governments” within the presidential elections of the 28th, through which Maduro won a controversial re-election branded as a fraud by the bulk opposition and questioned by the worldwide group, which requires publication of separate outcomes.

The Ministry of Transport “reserves authorized actions, in agency help of the political choices of the state, with the intention to respect, protect and shield the inalienable proper of self-determination of the folks”, the establishment then stated in a press release issued after the expulsion of the diplomatic corps. of the three nations, as well as from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, for his or her “interfering actions and statements” relating to the elections.

Argentine diplomats additionally suffered instantly from the closure of flights. His return from Caracas to Buenos Aires took greater than a day and included stops in Portugal and Spain. A direct flight between the 2 capitals it lasts about 9 hours.

Though the media lately reported on an alleged extension of the measure till September 30, The Transport Portfolio defined to EFE that the suspension “continues to be legitimate” as a result of it “by no means had an expiration date.”

The reference to these three nations was of nice significance to Venezuela due to it nonetheless low provide of direct worldwide flightseven though its reference to the world improved after the coronavirus pandemic, which meant one other blow to a sector that was already struggling the implications of the financial disaster that started in 2014.

A complete of Venezuela had 352 worldwide weekly frequencies in 2013“the largest increase second for entry to foreign money”, a determine that was lowered to 6 years in “solely 100” in 2019, as a result of “gradual withdrawal of airways” as a result of “impossibility of repatriating funds to their nations of origin” in addition to the “decline of the market”, based on ALAV.

In consequence, Panama, for instance, turned a bridge with a number of cities in the USA, stated De Loaiza, who additionally famous that Peru is related to South American nations and the choices that stay after the suspension – he assured – They aren’t sufficient to fulfill the demand.

“Many individuals had been wanted cancel journey plans or search alternate options“, he confirmed.

That is the case of Daniela, a twenty-year-old who traveled to the USA in June and had a return date to Caracas on August 10, in a flight that might go by Panama but it surely was cancelled, as introduced by the airline, which provides, based on the information, the choice of flying to a different nation that also has connections to Venezuela, together with Colombia, however the seats are few.

As his keep within the North American nation lengthens, he’s evaluating learn how to return to his nation, whose state of affairs additionally worries him, he defined to EFE.

The suspension additionally impacts the airports of Venezuela, which “they cease receiving” revenue with out these operations, which related a number of cities of the nation, along with Caracas, additionally with the world, by Panama, defined the pinnacle of ALAV.

“It’s a political measure that in actuality, It does nobody any good.” stated De Loaiza, additionally president of Conseturismo, which additionally warns that the suspension impacts the arrival of worldwide vacationers in Venezuela, the place this sector, which was “severely hit” by the pandemic, “had begun to get well”.

He subsequently known as for the measure to be reviewed, though he warned that recovering what Venezuela had earlier than the suspension It gained't be straightforward.

“It's not the planes They’re ready for Venezuela to open upthese planes are occurring different routes,” he added.

As well as, severing ties with Spain -direct bridge from Venezuela to Europe- It is a chance after this Wednesday, the president of the Parliament, Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, requested to arrange a decision asking the federal government to disrupt diplomatic and business relations, and? “flights cease” between the 2 nations “on Spanish airways”.

The announcement got here after the Spanish Congress authorized the popularity of González Urrutia – exiled within the European nation – as president-elect, which it described as Spain's “most brutal assault” towards Venezuela.

With info from Carlos Seijas Meneses, from the EFE company