Venezuelan government banned Argentine aircraft from flying over its airspace

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President Nicolás Maduro ordered the prohibition of aircraft with Argentinean registration plates to fly over Venezuelan airspace.

According to industry sources, the restriction applies not only to Aerolíneas Argentinas but to all companies operating in the country. The provision prevents overflights of any aircraft with Argentine registration and some private flights have already been affected.

The first case of prohibition occurred with an Aerolíneas Argentina flight to Punta Cana which, upon return, generated a complaint from the company. The ban was lifted and later, at the time of entering Venezuelan airspace, the impediment returned. “Since that moment the restriction was not lifted and we do not know the reasons, but it is obvious that it is related to the case of the Iranian plane”, said the state airline company.

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Aerolineas Argentinas explained that the impact is for its flights to Punta Cana and New York, and that the deviation is minimal in terms of time. However, beyond the operational issue, they are still calculating the extra expense for the company. Likewise, the company notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from where a summons was issued to the Venezuelan embassy in the country, Stella Marina Lugo Betancourt.

Now the Foreign Ministry is preparing a formal protest before the United Nations (UN) for the political determination of the government of Nicolás Maduro to prohibit all flights of Aerolíneas Argentinas -or with national registration- from crossing the airspace of Venezuela. With this unprecedented measure in the common history of both countries, Maduro replicates Javier Milei’s decision to accept the confiscation ordered by the US justice system of the Emtrasur aircraft linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, Infobae reported.