The Venezuelan airline Turpial Airlines announced this Tuesday the opening of a new direct route between Valencia and Panama City, with operations starting December 15. This movement occurs in the middle of an aeronautical crisis that has left Venezuela practically without foreign airline operations.
The route will have two weekly frequencies (Monday and Wednesday), with round-trip flights Valencia-Panama-Valencia, the company reported in a post on Instagram.
The news adds to Turpial’s recent announcement to increase frequencies on its route to Bogotá and open a new connection to Medellín, Colombia.
The announcement coincides with the extension of cancellations by foreign airlines. Air Europa has suspended its flights with Caracas until December 19, while Plus Ultra will maintain its operations paralyzed at least until December 31, following the recommendation not to fly over Venezuelan airspace issued by the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA).
Plus Ultra has enabled, as an alternative, a Madrid–Cartagena de Indias flight that links with Caracas through the Venezuelan airline Laser.
The impact of the airline crisis
This situation derives from the safety warning issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on November 21, which advises against operating in Venezuelan airspace and the southern Caribbean. As a consequence, Venezuela has lost almost two-thirds of its international frequencies in the last two weeks.
Until the first week of December, the 12 international airlines that flew to the country had suspended their operations, many of them after losing their flight concession by order of the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC). Among those affected are Iberia, Air Europa and Plus Ultra (Spain), TAP (Portugal), Avianca and Wingo (Colombia), Gol (Brazil), Latam Colombia and Turkish Airlines.
However, after a call between Nicolás Maduro and the president of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it was agreed to restore the Turkish Airlines route between Caracas and Istanbul “as soon as possible.” Other airlines such as Copa (Panama), Satena and Boliviana de Aviación (Bolivia) initially maintained their flights, but have announced temporary suspensions in recent days.
In response to this operational gap, Venezuelan airlines are strengthening their offer. In addition to Turpial, six other local companies fly to international destinations, although some – such as Estelar and Laser – have temporarily canceled their routes to Madrid following the recommendation of AESA. Frequencies have even been added to San Antonio del Táchira, a border city with Colombia, to facilitate land connectivity.
