Venezuela: American Airlines Scraps Planned Caracas Flight

April 4, 2006
The country's aviation authority said it notified the carrier last week that it needed government authorization to restore a fourth flight that was eliminated in January.

Venezuela, which is seeking to regain its own airlines' access to the United States, said on Tuesday that American Airlines could not add a planned fourth daily flight to Miami from Caracas.

The country's aviation authority said it notified the carrier last week that it needed government authorization to restore a fourth flight that was eliminated in January after a highway between Caracas and Venezuela's main airport was temporarily closed.

American's parent, AMR Corp., said Monday it would not restore the fourth flight to Miami as planned and refunded tickets.

In 1995, the United States imposed safety restrictions prohibiting Venezuelan airlines from flying their own planes to the U.S. or from launching new services such as expansions or changes in routes.

Last week Venezuela's Infrastructure Ministry set an April 25 deadline by which the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration must drop restrictions against Venezuelan carriers or face retaliatory measures.

Venezuela has threatened that if the FAA fails to upgrade its airlines' safety ranking by the deadline it will prohibit all flights to Venezuela by Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., and restrict flights by American Airlines.

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