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La Guaira.- After almost five months of the official announcement by the governments of Venezuela and Colombia, made on September 26, 2022on the resumption of air operations between the two countries, only three weekly flights have been able to take flight.
Until this Tuesday, February 14, the only airline that is regularly flying the route Caracas – Bogota – Caracas, since November 7, 2022, it is the Venezuelan Turpial Airlines.
The company meets three flight frequencies a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, traveling in a Boeing 737-400, with an offer of 170 seats per trip, an average of 2,040 seats per month, a tiny figure when compared to the offer that managed the air interconnection between Caracas – Bogotá until 2019, according to the statistics of Aerocivil Colombia, which reports the mobility of 160,237 passengers in that year, an average of 13,352 travelers per month.
«The air reactivation between Caracas – Bogotá is practically paralyzed. That there are only one or two airlines is practically a null supply, which does not respond to demand. The Caracas – Bogotá route has always been very important and had up to seven or eight airlines in operation, including Venezuelans and Colombians, offering a large number of seats. And they not only operated the route to Caracas, but also Bogotá – Maracaibo and Bogotá – Valencia”, explains a source from the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (Inac), the entity in charge of commercial and general aviation in Venezuela, who requested the reservation of its identity.
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The source assures that at the moment, there are no plans for the immediate incorporation of new airlines, beyond the Colombian state airline Satena, which will start two weekly flights from March 3.
“We have to wait and see if Satena’s operations are regular this time. Last year they had to suspend, they only made the inaugural flight, because they ensured that the route was not profitable, “says the source, recalling that the Colombian airline made its first and only flight in November 2022 to the Maiquetía Airport. At that time, the Colombian Ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, assured that Satena would operate a weekly flight, which was never fulfilled.
Convey the lock stone
When consulting experts in the area of air operations in Venezuela and Colombia, both agree that the blocking stone for the reestablishment of flights between Colombia and Venezuela is the Venezuelan state airline, Conviasa.
“The Venezuelan government would be waiting for Colombia to accept the Conviasa airline to enter the country, to proceed to give permits to Colombian airlines to go to Venezuela. That is the information that is handled. Aerocivil has denied the entry permit to Conviasasince it is sanctioned by the United States and that would bring serious consequences to the sector, “explains a source consulted at the El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, who requested that his identity be withheld.
The sanction to which the source refers is that Conviasa is included in the so-called Clinton List, which is managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury.
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In fact, faced with this situation, the Vice Minister of Transportation of the government of Gustavo Petro, Carlos Eduardo Enriquezhe affirmed to Semana magazine on February 10, that they hope that the Venezuelan authorities and the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) can accept the terms that Colombia has placed, if they do not grant permission to Conviasa, to restore the flights between nations.
“We hope that there will be that reciprocity to restore and put into operation that air transport that the countries require so much,” said Enríquez.
the whistle confirmed, with Venezuelan and Colombian sources that the airlines Avianca, Wingo and Latam are ready to fly to Venezuela, but they have not received authorization from Colombia. On the other hand, the INAC has authorized Estelar, Láser, Avior and Conviasa, but none have received the approval of AeroCivil Colombia.
«There is a negotiation and a power struggle to see who gives in. And while the governments of Colombia and Venezuela determine who gives their arm to twist in relation to Conviasa, passengers will continue with a low offer to travel to the neighboring country, “concludes the Inac source, consulted for this work.
Desk NoriegaEconomy
Desk NoriegaEconomy
