Venezuela calls on airlines that halted flights to resume operations

ANKARA

Venezuela has warned that airlines which suspended their flights to the country following a US warning of heightened risk will lose their permission to operate there if they do not resume flights.

The Venezuelan Transport Ministry said Tuesday that a 48-hour period given to international airlines that halted their flights expires at 12 noon local time (1600GMT) on Wednesday, according to Spanish news agency EFE.

The ministry said the deadline was conveyed during a Monday meeting with airline representatives, and that companies that do not restart flights within this period will have their flight permits to Venezuela revoked.

"The Venezuelan state has taken a stand with the airlines and will take the corresponding actions. They have less than 24 hours left," a ministry source told EFE.

Last Friday the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a warning calling for caution on flights to Venezuela “due to the deteriorating security situation and increased military activity” in the country.

Following the warning, several international airlines -- including TAP, LATAM, Avianca, Iberia, Gol, Caribbean Airlines -- reportedly suspended their flights to Venezuela indefinitely.

Tensions between the US and Venezuela have been on the rise since US President Donald Trump in August ordered a military deployment in the Caribbean with the stated aim of attacking drug cartels and stopping drug trafficking routes allegedly linked to Maduro.

Caracas maintains that the US buildup has nothing to do with drugs but instead seeks regime change.

Since September, the US military has carried out 21 strikes on vessels it claimed were loaded with drugs, killing 83 people, drawing claims the strikes are illegal, and Trump has signaled that he could attack alleged drug trafficking targets on the ground in Venezuela.