Major US
airline American Airlines announced that it will trim its schedule from the United States to Venezuela significantly starting in
July, apparently due to an alleged dispute in ticket revenues.
American Airlines, headquartered in Forth Worth, Texas, said
it will cut 38 of its 48 weekly flights to the South American country and
totally end its Caracas – Dallas / Fort Worth and San Juan – New York JFK
service after 1 July.
In a statement to Flightglobal, American Airlines said it
will continue to serve Venezuela
through tits eight weekly flights between Caracas
and Miami and two weekly flights between Maracaibo and Miami.
The airline pointed out that the significant reduction of
its flights to Venezuela
was due to unresolved debt and “substantial outstanding amount”. It had USD750
million in cash trapped in the South American country at the end of March.
American Airlines is the biggest international carrier that
serves the US – Venezuela route,
accounting for 45.2 percent of the total seat capacity between the two
countries, Forexters.com said.
It was not the first time though that an international airline
has discontinued service to Venezuela.
Recently, Alitalia and Air Canada
have totally discontinued service to the country while Copa Airlines trimmed
the number of flights.
IATA lambasted Venezuela for not playing by the
rules when it failed to pay airlines. Director General and CEO Tony Tyler said
that when airlines do not get paid, their service will be affected.
“The Venezuelan government has responded but with more
promises than action,” Tyler
stressed.