Venezuelan airlines plan to resume service after a 90-day flight ban expires on 12 June.
Commercial airlines association (ALAV) director Humberto Figuera says local airlines are waiting for a decision from the government's civil aviation authority (INAC) on whether operations will be allowed to restart at 6am ET on 13 June. The ban took effect in March as part of pandemic restrictions.
Venezuela's oil ministry says state-owned PdV -- which is subject to US sanctions -- has sufficient jet fuel stocks to support a resumption of local commercial flights operations.
The domestic fueling needs of state-owned Conviasa and private Venezuelan carriers including Laser, Avior, Rutaca and Rutas Aereas de Venezuela would be prioritized over foreign airlines which have the option of refueling at other nearby flight hubs such as Panama and Santo Domingo, the ministry added.
Nine international airlines, including Iberia, Air Europa, Plus Ultra, Turkish Airlines, Air France, TAP Portugal, Copa, Wingo and Caribbean Airlines, were operating in Venezuela immediately before the government grounded all flights in March, according to Figuera.
ALAV is hopeful that international flight services will resume by the first half of July, initially connecting Caracas to Panama and the Dominican Republic, Figuera said.
But the government could renew the ban depending on the course of the Covid-19 outbreak, which Venezuela is considered ill-equipped to manage.
According to official data, Venezuela only has 1,964 coronavirus hospitalizations, of which 22 have died as of 9 June and 467 have recovered. The data is widely seen as an undercount.
Caracas blames refugees returning from neighboring Colombia and other countries for sowing local infections.
