Spanish
Caracas.- Maiquetía International Airport, which serves Caracas, operated this Thursday with a limited offer of flights, with only seven departures and seven arrivals planned, one day after the Venezuelan authorities revoked the flight concession to six foreign airlines, which they accused of "joining the actions of terrorism" that, they say, the United States promotes.
The measure affects Iberia, TAP, Avianca, Latam Colombia, Turkish Airlines and Gol, which fly to destinations such as Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Turkey and Brazil. In total, the frequency of these companies added up to twenty-six weekly trips from Venezuela, according to data provided to EFE by the Association of Airlines in Venezuela (ALAV).
The flight board, at 11:00 local time (15:00 GMT), showed seven departures scheduled for this Thursday and another seven arrivals, with destinations such as Havana (Cuba), Panama City, Curaçao, Bogotá (Colombia), Viru Viru (Bolivia) and Lima (Peru), as confirmed by EFE.
The west wing of the airport terminal, where the Iberia, TAP, Turkish, and Air Europa airline counters are usually located, was completely empty.
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In front of this area, the Turkish Airlines office - which until last week had a weekly frequency of seven flights - remained closed. The headquarters of other airlines, such as Latam, which also suspended its flights to Colombia, were also closed.
In the east wing, only two airlines served passengers: the state-owned Conviasa, with destinations to Havana, and Copa, which flies to Panama. The latter is one of the four airlines that still maintain operations in Venezuela, along with Wingo, Boliviana de Aviación and Satena.
The airport's shops and services were operating normally, but with very few visitors.
"There's no one here," the shop assistant, who did not want to reveal her identity, told EFE.
And although he admitted that there is not "always a crowd (many people)", he explained that all this week the influx has been less than usual.
During an EFE tour of the Plus Ultra airline offices in Caracas, Carmela Isava, a passenger, reported that she was scheduled to travel this Thursday, but her itinerary was canceled.
Her three children, who live in Spain, gave her the ticket two months ago. She hasn't seen them for six years and they were hoping to spend Christmas together.
"If there is a possibility of traveling, regardless of the date, I want to travel," declared Isava.
This woman rescheduled her flight for December 9th.
Plus Ultra and Air Europa are the two international airlines that suspended flights and still maintain their current concession.
The Venezuelan government had given a 48-hour deadline, which expired the previous day at noon (16:00 GMT), to the airlines that suspended their itineraries to resume their operations in Venezuela.
The string of flight cancellations occurred after the US Federal Aviation Administration last Friday urged commercial airlines to "exercise extreme caution" when flying over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean due to what it considers "a potentially dangerous situation in the region."
This Thursday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which groups together more than three hundred airlines from around the world, urged the Venezuelan authorities to "reconsider" their revocation of flight concessions.
