BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Commercial flights between Colombia and Venezuela resumed Monday as part of relations between South American neighbors following the election of Colombia’s first leftist president.
The first flight connecting the two countries ran through Turpial, an airline owned by a retired Venezuelan Air Force colonel. Satena, which belongs to the Colombian Air Force, will operate the flight for the moment between the countries, which is scheduled to take off from Bogotá Internacional. Airport on Wednesday.
One-way tickets for the 90-minute flight from Caracas to Bogotá are sold at Turpial’s for $240, which is about twelve times Venezuela’s monthly minimum wage. The cheapest one-way tickets at Satena’s sell for $300.
Several airlines have implemented to operate the address between Bogotá and Caracas, Latam, the largest airline in Latin America, and Wingo, a cheap airline owned by Copa Holdings.
So far, Turpial, Satena and Venezuelan airline Laser have received permits from the Venezuelan government to operate the route.
Venezuelan state airline Conviasa had received a permit in September to operate flights between the two countries, but the Colombian government revoked it following a complaint from the U. S. government. UU. de commit human rights violations.
After Conviasa denied permission to operate on the route, the Venezuelan government canceled a permit that had been granted to Wingo to begin operating flights in October.
Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Colombia in 2019 after its then-conservative government subsidized U. S. -led efforts to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to hold new elections. But flights between Colombia and Venezuela operated until the pandemic broke out in 2020 and airports closed across South America. .
In September, Colombia and Venezuela re-established diplomatic relations, following the election of leftist Gustavo Petro as Colombian president. Petro has diverted Colombia from efforts to isolate Maduro, whose 2018 re-election was deemed fraudulent by dozens of countries.
Colombia’s new president is seeking negotiations with Maduro over industrial and security issues and has called for Venezuela’s peace talks with the National Liberation Army, an insurgent organization operating on both sides of the Colombia-Venezuela border.