Venezuela to resume flights to 4 'brother' nations

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - The Venezuelan government announced Monday that air restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic will remain in place, making an exception to allow flights to and from Turkey, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Iran.

When the confinement measures were adopted in March, President Nicolas Maduro's government suspended all air operations, except for humanitarian flights. However, Maduro announced in September that commercial flights to those destinations would be reactivated in December.

"By December we will have flights from the Dominican Republic, we will have flights from Mexico (...), we will have the direct flight from Turkey," said Maduro during a virtual meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum.

The country's National Aviation Agency said in a statement on Twitter that airports would remain closed for international flights except for operations with "brother countries of Turkey, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Iran."

It also announced that as a preventive measure against the virus, passengers must comply with a social quarantine, while undergoing the corresponding medical evaluations.

Domestic flights throughout Venezuela will remain restricted, except for flights to Los Roques, an archipelago of Caribbean islands.

Venezuela officials report a total of 800 deaths and 92,325 total infections.