Estelar plans to resume flights between Venezuela and the United States

With the aim of potentially lifting the ban on commercial flights between Venezuela and the United States established by the Donald Trump administration, Estelar and Global Crossing Airlines have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at returning flights from Miami to Caracas and Maracaibo.

The information was released this Wednesday by the US airline through a statement, detailing the intention to operate a daily flight between Miami and Caracas, and three weekly flights between Miami and Maracaibo using a GlobalX Airbus A320.

Let us remember that apart from the blanket flight ban that was established in May 2019, Venezuela was under Category 2 in terms of air safety according to the IASA program of the United States Federal Aviation Administration, so that Bolivarian airlines were unable to operate new flights. Frequencies between the two countries, and resort to blanket leasing of aircraft registered in other countries (i.e. aircraft in addition to the crew), which Estelar will do.

Category 2, according to the United States Federal Aviation Administration, indicates that a country lacks laws or regulations to oversee airlines according to international minimum standards, or that the CAA is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, employee training, or document registration. Related to certification, air traffic control or inspection procedures.

“GlobalX expects to remove these restrictions in the coming months,” they said from Global Crossing regarding the May 2019 metric, and reported that they had hired a Washington, DC-based public policy firm (Mercury LLC) to “assist in consultations with the US government” and “ensure compliance with all restrictions. Applicable government. “

Ed Weigl, President and CEO of GlobalX, said they look forward to “working with Estelar owners and management, in compliance with all government regulations and standards, to reestablish their services to Miami.”

There is no information yet on when the flights will resume, but the Biden administration is expected to be more flexible on some points in its relationship with Venezuela.

At the moment, the South American country has only regular flights to and from Bolivia, Turkey, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.