The lack of reciprocity between Venezuela and Colombia led to the closure of airspace

When Conviasa was penalized for flying to the neighboring country, Venezuelan authorities prevented Colombian airlines from doing so, said a lawyer specializing in aviation, Rodolfo Ruiz.

Only the Venezuelan company Turpial covers the airspace between the two countries with private charter flights

despite of Nicolás Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro Met several times in Caracas and He pledged to fully restore transit between Venezuela and the neighboring countryAnd The airspace between the two countries remains virtually motionless.

Nobody knows for sure what It is forbidden to resume flights After announcing the normalization of relations between the two countries in September 2022, with the coming to power of the leftist Petro in June.

the Colombian low-cost airline Wingo has sold more than 2,000 tickets for the Caracas-Bogotá route.a journey that was scheduled to begin on October 4.

However, the company was forced to return the money to the passengers at the request of the Venezuelan authorities.

As we have been informed, this temporary suspension is in effect Pending resolution of issues between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela Wingo said in a statement that the airlines had agreed to operate flights between the two countries.

The Venezuelan airline Estelar also canceled the flight between Caracas and Bogota were scheduled for January 4 and had to return the money to the clients.

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Estelar spokespeople said the company has received approval from The National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) of Venezuela, but not the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics of Colombia (Aerocivil).

For its part, Aeronáutica Civil issued a statement claiming that there is no capacity to accommodate this flight at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport.

the Transport Ministers of Colombia, Gustavo Reyes and Venezuela, Ramon Velazquez Araguayanannounced that Colombian airlines Avianca, SATINA and Venezuelan Laser They were willing to work, but so far none of them offered a regular route for passengers.

I can’t, and neither can you

in judgment Rodolfo RuizAnd International corporate aviation lawyer Clyde and companyAnd The suspension of flights despite the announcement of the agreements reached by the two governments is a matter of reciprocity.

“By not being able to fly from Conviasa to Bogota on a regular basis, Colombian airlines are being prevented from coming to Venezuela and that’s what has closed the game in a certain way,” Ruiz said.

The airline Conviasa, which is owned by the Venezuelan government, cannot operate in Colombia due to the sanctions imposed on it Office of Foreign Assets Control (Office of Foreign Assets Control) of the US Department of State.

“They literally reminded us that Colombia can’t take Conviasa because it’s being punished.”The Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, said in September last year, after Conviasa offered its users a flight on the 27th of that month.

In February 2020, OFAC imposed sanctions on about 40 aircraft that Conviasa owned at the time. Because, according to this office, “Maduro relies on these planes to transport corrupt officials from the regime around the world to bolster support for his anti-democratic efforts.”

According to Ruiz, currently, Only the national airline Turpial covers the route between Venezuela and Colombia.

“And they do it with non-scheduled flights, that is, flights, private charters, because the airlines that operate regularly have not received the green light.”

Ruiz doesn’t understand why the rest of the commercial airlines lack the green light to operate.

“The schedule is being presented at the legal level so that flights can be fully resumed, but there has been no progress in this regard. There is a mismatch between Aerocivil and the supreme government.”

Ruiz He recalled that on December 8th of last year, an evaluation was made for the merger of a second Venezuelan airline, but no agreement was reached with Aerocivil..

The lawyer confirmed that the users are still waiting for both the Venezuelan and Colombian authorities to fulfill their promise.

“There was a sea of ​​inconsistencies and therefore no substantive development in this matter,” is over.

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