Venezuela revokes licenses of several airlines amid U.S. tensions

The authority announced that flights by multiple airlines accused of terrorism will be banned from entering Venezuela, following the suspension of their routes in response to U.S. warnings about military activities in the Caribbean region.

Venezuelan aviation officials stated that the operating licenses of Iberia (Spain), TAP (Portugal), Avianca (Colombia), LATAM (Chile and Brazil), GOL (Brazil), and Turkish Airlines would be revoked due to their participation in state-sponsored terrorism promoted by the U.S. government, as well as for unilaterally suspending commercial air operations.

Previously, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Venezuela’s Civil Aviation Institute had informed international airlines that they must resume flights to the country within 48 hours, or they would lose their authorization to fly to Venezuela.

This deadline followed warnings from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to major airlines about what it described as a potentially hazardous situation when flying over Venezuelan airspace.

In response to this U.S. warning, several international airlines have canceled flights to Venezuela in recent days.

Earlier, the Spanish Airline Air Europa announced that it would suspend its five weekly flights between Madrid and Caracas until conditions allow the resumption of operations.