The route between Madrid and Caracas, which will remain blocked after the communication of the three airlines operating between the Spanish and Venezuelan capitals to cancel their scheduled flights, has left numerous passengers on the ground with tickets in hand. In a statement released on Monday by Iberia, the airline confirmed that it will maintain the cancellation of its flights to Venezuela until December 1st. Air Europa and Plus Ultra subsequently joined this initiative, although without specifying the date of their resumption, rather they indicate that they will resume this route when “conditions are suitable”. There are five days left to find out whether they will be able to return home or remain “stranded” in Madrid without receiving explanations and without knowing safe accommodation in the meantime: “They wash their hands.” Another airline, the Latin American Estelar, has also canceled flights scheduled for this week.
Most of the people affected by the cancellations of the latter airline and Air Europa are concentrated in Terminal 1 of Barajas airport. Nearly a hundred people spent the night there due to lack of alternatives. In a corner of the terminal they await the arrival of some information that will clarify their situation. Jose Enrique García (37 years old) acted as an impromptu spokesperson for those who had tickets for the flight operated by Estelar this Monday at 12.30pm, on which around 350 passengers were supposed to board.
“When I was at the counter to check in my suitcase, they told us that it had been cancelled. They didn’t give us any solution, but if there’s anyone who should be responsible, it’s the airline,” explains García before asking them for accommodation or, at least, food. “We slept on the floor, including a girl who had a fever. We had to scrape money out of our pockets to buy bread with ham and cheese,” she complains while explaining that the airline does not have an office at the airport and that no one came to inquire about her situation.
Isaid Salas (32), who had planned to travel on the same flight as García, also saw his plans disrupted due to Estelar’s cancellation. “I arrived on Sunday from Turkey and I stayed here waiting for the next day’s flight because they assured us that it would leave. When I was already at the boarding gate they told us about the cancellation and we saw the crew themselves taking the bags off the plane.”
Salas criticizes the fact that the airline did not provide them with any kind of information on possible transfers, accommodation or refunds. Furthermore, airport staff informed them that they cannot stay in the corner of the terminal they occupy. “Yesterday they gave us permission to sleep here while we waited for a solution, but now we have to try to convince ourselves to let us stay another night because we have nowhere to go.” The Estelar airline released a statement on its networks yesterday announcing the cancellation of flights scheduled for the 24th, 26th and 28th.
In terminal 4 of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, around twenty passengers heading to Caracas are waiting for the airline Plus Ultra to offer them an alternative, after the cancellation of the flight scheduled for Tuesday at 1pm. Some have Venezuela as their final destination, others are headed to Bolivia or Colombia, but have to stop in the country affected by the cancellation of flights which began on Monday.
César Torres (30 years old) received an email at three in the morning informing him that his trip had been cancelled. He decided to go to Barajas in search of an answer to his most pressing doubts: how long he will have to wait and where he will stay. “They have to help us with the issue of accommodation and food, but they wash their hands of it and claim that it is not their fault, but rather the closure of the airspace,” he complains as he searches for a way to return home after the holidays.
A situation similar to that reported by Silvia Hernández (25 years old), who also asks for an alternative to return to Venezuela after spending two weeks in Spain. He assures that the company’s only proposal is to reschedule the flight for December 2, but without guarantees that it will take off. “We are in limbo. They don’t give us a preventive option or offer us to travel to another destination”, denounces the young woman. “I admit that it’s not the airline’s fault, but we don’t even know where we will sleep and what we will eat. Until today we had booked the accommodation”, he criticizes while waiting for a more concrete response.
At the same airport, the Plus Ultra staff reports that for now only Tuesday’s flight has been cancelled, but that the following one (scheduled for Thursday) remains unchanged while waiting to see how the situation evolves. Regarding the options offered to passengers waiting in Barajas, the company assures that it is trying to relocate them as soon as possible and that it has also given them the possibility of changing the flight with a voucher. On the Air Europa website we read the same message: flights maintained for the 27th, 29th and 30th, but with “courtesies” such as changing the date or requesting a voucher.
In the case of Denis Rodríguez, a 33-year-old Venezuelan affected by the cancellation of the same trip, the notification arrived while he was already on his way to the airport. “I found out at midnight, I live in Portugal and I was already arriving at that time. I’ve had the flight for three months, since I’ll be traveling on the 28th to undergo surgery. Now I have to reschedule everything”, he says with a certain resignation. However, he admits that he is considering the possibility of traveling to Colombia and then arriving in his country and that he is in agreement with the airline: “They are doing what they can with this situation that affects us all. They are doing everything they can to give us accommodation and food.”
Others found out about the cancellation directly at the airport. This is the case of a woman, who prefers not to be identified, who arrived at the terminal early to check in. “I called customer service and they told me to come so they would help me with the procedure. When I arrived I found that there were no flights,” he complains. His plan was to stop in Caracas before returning to his home country of Colombia, but now everything is very uncertain. “It’s distressing not to have an appointment, since I’m going back to work. Someone has to take care of us,” he explains while waiting to be offered another way to reach his country, regardless of the city.
Nancy Sagardia (50 years old) had planned to leave Madrid behind to return to Bolivia this Tuesday (with a stop in Caracas) accompanied by her two children and loaded with all her belongings. However, it seems that he will have to stay in Spain longer than expected: “I have already planned everything and I have taken the child out of school. I am in a hurry to travel.” You regret that you found out about the cancellation at the airport and did not receive any notification from Plus Ultra or the travel agency where you purchased your tickets. “The airline told me that they are looking for another connection, but at the moment they have not offered me any options,” he explains.
The decision of the three airlines joins that of other companies in the airline industry, such as Avianca, TAP and Gol, which already on Saturday announced the cancellation of their flights to Caracas, after the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued a warning against flights over Venezuela due to a “possible risk situation”, they reported. Macarena Vidal Liy, from Washington, and Florantonia Singer, in Caracas.
In response to the measures taken by airlines, the Venezuelan Civil Aviation Authority (INAC) has threatened to withdraw their traffic rights in the Latin American country if they do not resume suspended operations within 48 hours, it confirms Javier F. Magariño. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents around 350 airlines that make up 80% of global air traffic, denied INAC’s warnings in a statement published on Monday, stressing that “this decision will further reduce connectivity with the country which is already one of the least connected in the region”. Furthermore, it asked the authorities involved to provide “greater clarity” to the affected airlines.
The warnings on travel to the Latin American country arise after the Trump administration announced that the start of the second phase of the so-called Operation Southern Spear – as part of which the United States has already killed around 80 people in attacks against boats accused of bringing drugs into the North American country – was perhaps imminent, without however specifying what it would consist of. Last week the United States already incorporated its largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, into the Republican campaign against drug trafficking.
In February of this year, the State Department added several cartels to its list of international terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. This Monday, the Suns cartel, which Trump accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading, was officially included in the list.
This Tuesday, the day after the US president designated Maduro as a terrorist, the news portal Axios revealed that Trump intends to speak directly with the Venezuelan.
