Venezuela Authorities Denies AA to Open Fourth Flight between Miami, Caracas
There´s been a break in the truce in the U.S.-Venezuela dispute over airline service restrictions: American said it belatedly discovered Venezuela would not let it restore a fourth daily flight between Miami and Caracas that had been scheduled to begin in April.
American said it had canceled the fourth daily flight for Miami-Caracas service in January because of road conditions between the airport in Maiquetia and Caracas. But American had planned to resume the service April 3 on A300 aircraft with capacity for 267 passengers.
Because the other Miami-Caracas flights are so heavily booked, American said its ability to rebook customers from the fourth daily flight would be limited.
The U.S. and Venezuela have been embroiled in a dispute over decade-long restrictions on Venezuelan air carrier service to the U.S. Those restrictions are based on the Federal Aviation Administration´s determination that Venezuela does not meet international standards for oversight of its airline industry on safety issues.
Frustrated by its inability to get those restrictions lifted, Venezuela has been threatening to ban all Continental and Delta service to Venezuela and limit American´s service to three daily flights out of Miami. But the airlines and U.S. officials have twice been able to persuade Venezuela to postpone the retaliation, which was originally scheduled to take effect March 1, then March 30.
Venezuelan officials now say they will impose the restrictions April 25 if the U.S. does not lift its restrictions on Venezuelan airline service to the U.S. by then. But the lifting of the U.S. restrictions seems increasingly likely; the FAA went to Venezuela in late March to reassess its safety oversight, in a visit Venezuela described as cordial, and will be releasing a new safety determination soon.
