Seven airlines have canceled their connections with Venezuela following warning from US
Spain's Iberia, Portugal's TAP, Colombia's Avianca, Trinidad and Tobago's Caribbean, Brazil's GOL, Chile's LATAM and now Turkish Airlines have all canceled their operations.
LATAM airline planes on the runway at Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport
(AFP) Seven airlines have now canceled their flights to Venezuela after the United States warned civil aviation authorities of an “increase in military activity” amid the deployment of American forces in the Caribbean, the airline association told AFP.
Spain's Iberia, Portugal's TAP, Colombia's Avianca, Trinidad's Caribbean, Brazil's GOL, Chile's LATAM, and now Turkish Airlines have canceled their operations.
The measure comes after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning to “exercise extreme caution” when flying over Venezuelan territory and the southern Caribbean due to “a potentially dangerous situation in the region,” reported EFE.
They did not specify how long the suspension of flights would last.
Tension in the region
The United States mobilized the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean along with a flotilla of warships and fighter jets for anti-drug operations, which Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro claims is a "threat" to force his removal.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday urged aircraft in Venezuelan airspace to "exercise extreme caution" due to the "worsening security situation and increased military activity in and around Venezuela."
"Threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight, arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or to airports and aircraft on the ground," the FAA said.
World
EEUU advierte a las aerolíneas que volar sobre Venezuela es una "situación potencialmente peligrosa"
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón
Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Airlines Association in Venezuela (ALAV), said that for the moment that Panamanian airline Copa, Air Europa and Venezuelan airlines Laser and PlusUltra are still operating.
The United States plans to declare Cartel de Los Soles, led by dictator Nicolás Maduro, a terrorist organization.
Since September, U.S. forces have attacked more than 20 suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, killing 83 people.
In a statement, ALAV urged people "who have tickets on the different airlines serving Venezuela, and whose flights are scheduled for the coming days or weeks" to "be attentive to any notice from their airline."
On the web page of the International Airport of Maiquetía, TAP and Avianca flights appear as canceled this Saturday.
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