BERLIN, November 27 (EFECOM).- The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela and is ready to take action if the situation requires it, a spokeswoman for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told EFE on Thursday.
“With regard to Venezuela, EASA is monitoring the situation closely and will take action, in cooperation with the European Commission and Member States, if we see an escalation that could pose a threat to safe flight operations,” said Janet Northcutt, an agency spokeswoman based in Cologne (Germany).
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport and the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) of Venezuela canceled the operating licenses in the country of the Spanish airlines Iberia, the Portuguese TAP, the Colombian Avianca, LATAM Colombia, Turkish Airlines and the Brazilian GOL, after the expiration of a 48-hour period for the resumption of the operations of these airlines in Venezuela.
Airlines canceled their flights to and from Caracas after the US Federal Aviation Administration last Friday urged commercial airlines to “exercise caution” when flying over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean in the face of what it considers a “potentially dangerous situation in the region.”
Spanish companies, specifically, did so after the Director of Air Navigation Enaire issued an air warning to Spanish aircraft operators with the recommendation not to fly over this airspace until December 1, following a risk analysis conducted by the government Aviation Safety Agency (AESA).
This measure came due to increasing military activity in the region, and the presence of anti-aircraft systems at all altitudes, in light of the state of uncertainty in the region as it currently exists, and the absence of effective coordination between the parties concerned, according to ESA sources.
Meanwhile, the US Air Force revealed on Wednesday that several B-52H bomber aircraft conducted attack demonstrations this week in the Caribbean.
The authorities did not specify the location of these demonstrations, which they included as part of the military operation “Southern Spears,” which was announced on November 14 to combat drug smuggling coming from Latin America, three months after the start of military deployment in the region. Aficom