Spanish airlines Air Europa and Plus Ultra suspended their flights scheduled for this Tuesday between Madrid and Caracas, following the alert issued on Friday by the United States air authority, which urged “exercise caution” when flying over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean Sea before “a potentially dangerous situation in the region”.
Sources from Air Europa – a company of the Globalia group, which operates five weekly frequencies to Venezuela – told Efe that flights will resume “when conditions are right”.
Plus Ultrawith three weekly frequencies between both capitals, confirmed that it is canceling the flight scheduled for this Tuesday and that it will evaluate the rest of its schedule between Madrid and Caracas.
As a result, No flight to Venezuela will depart this November 24 from the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airportjust as happened this Monday, when these two airlines do not operate either. Iberia, which does fly that day and has five weekly frequencies, had announced on Saturday the temporary suspension of its operations with Caracas.
Aena, the state company that manages airports and heliports of general interest in Spain, reported that this Monday a Plus Ultra flight landedfrom Venezuela, as well as another from Air Europa that took off on Sunday from Caracas.
A long list of airlines have suspended operations
With these cancellations, Air Europa and Plus Ultra join a long list of airlines that have temporarily stopped their flights to or from Venezuela: Iberia, TAP, Avianca, Caribbean Airlines, Gol, Latam and Turkish Airlines.
In addition, Venezuelan airlines Stellar (which suspended its flights between November 24 and 28) and Laseran ally of Plus Ultra, have also adjusted their operations. In the case of Laser, its flight scheduled for this Monday from Madrid was rescheduled for Thursday.
The Venezuelan state Conviasa assured in a statement published on Instagram that all its national and international flights will be “They are running completely normally”.
The recommendation of the US air authority coincides with the military deployment ordered by President Donald Trump in Caribbean waters near Venezuelaas part of the pressure exerted on the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Enairin response to a request from the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA)published a recommendation addressed to Spanish civil operators so that do not carry out flights within the Maiquetía FIR (SVZM) until next December 1st. This aerial region covers the entire Venezuelan territory and part of the Caribbean Sea.
According to the document consulted by Efe, the recommendation is due to the potential risk to civil aviationderived from the increase in military activity, the presence of anti-aircraft weaponry capable of operating at all altitudes and the lack of coordination between the parties to the conflict.
A meeting of the Integrated Risk Assessment Group (IRAG)in which the situation of Venezuelan airspace will be addressed as one of the central issues on the agenda.
AESA noted that it will continue to monitor the situation in order to provide operators the necessary information for their respective risk analysis.
With information from Efe.
