Venezuela Plans to Halt U.S. Flights

Venezuela will halt flights by U.S. carriers Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines and restrict American Airlines in the latest dispute between Washington and the world’s No. 5 oil exporter, airlines and industry officials said Friday.

Washington, increasingly at odds with Venezuela’s left-wing president, Hugo Chavez, said it could weigh countermeasures should Caracas press ahead with flight suspensions in March.

The restrictions on U.S. passenger and cargo flights came after U.S. authorities refused to lift limits put in place in 1995 on Venezuelan carriers flying to the United States because of safety concerns, Venezuela’s INAC aviation authority said.

Venezuela’s airline association ALAV, which represents carriers, said the measure would cancel some American flights and halt all Continental and Delta flights and affect cargo carrier FedEx when it takes effect Wednesday.

“INAC has exhausted all conciliatory avenues with the U.S. aviation authorities ... and has not been able to reestablish rights the bilateral accord gives to Venezuelan air carriers,” the Venezuelan agency said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Eric Watnik said Caracas had not consulted Washington before notifying U.S. carriers that flights would be canceled or reduced. He said the move violated a 1953 U.S.-Venezuela aviation accord.

“We are working to resolve this serious dispute,” Watnik said. “If Venezuela proceeds with its announced plans, we will consider options for an appropriate response.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said as early as last fall that it had offered technical support to Venezuela to improve aviation safety.

Relations between Venezuela and the United States hit a low this month when Chavez expelled a U.S. military attache accused of spying and Washington responded by kicking out a Venezuelan diplomat.

Delta spokesman John Kennedy said, “We are very disappointed by this unilateral action by the Venezuelan government and are working closely with the U.S. departments of State and Transport as well as our peer carriers.”

Continental said that the measure would halt its operations starting in March, but that it would maintain its daily Caracas-to-Houston flight and a weekly Caracas-to-Newark, N.J., flight while talks were underway.

A FedEx spokeswoman said that the company was in talks with the government to see whether its operations would be affected, but that its business would continue in the meantime.