Air Canada Suspends Flights to Venezuela

Via the BBC:  Air Canada suspends Venezuela flights over ‘civil unrest’

Air Canada has suspended flights to and from Venezuela, citing concerns over security.

[…]

It operated three return flights between Toronto and Caracas per week.

Other airlines are also reacting, although unrest is not the main motivator:

Several international airlines have reduced operations in recent weeks in Venezuela, but their main grievance has been the government’s tight currency controls.

International airlines say the government of Nicolas Maduro owes them more than $3bn (£1.8bn).

Tough foreign currency controls make it difficult for foreign airlines to repatriate money obtained from ticket sales in Venezuela.

In January, Ecuadorean airline Tame suspended flights to Venezuela, demanding $43m (£26m) – one third of the company’s yearly revenue – in overdue payments for tickets.

Maduro, meanwhile, sees this as an attack of sorts:

Mr Maduro said that airlines that reduced their operations in Venezuela would face "severe measures".

"The company that leaves the country will not return while we hold power," said Mr Maduro.

The government says right-wing groups backed by the US have fomented the unrest as part of a coup plot.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. OzarkHillbilly says:

    People want to get paid. Who’da thunk it?