MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru's Largest Airline Barred From U.S.

U.S. authorities have prohibited Peru's largest airline, Aero Continente, from flying to the United States because of safety concerns, U.S. officials said Thursday.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Michael Stanton said Aero Continente, which flies four times a week to Miami, lost permission to enter U.S. air space following an inspection last week by Federal Aviation Administration officials.

Stanton said the FAA sent a letter Thursday to Aero Continente's operations director, Victor Jaime Manrique, saying discussions between the FAA and Peru's Civil Aviation Authority "resulted in a common understanding of the significant safety issues."

FAA spokesman Christopher White said as of Thursday morning, Aero Continente "cannot operate into the U.S.," but he referred further questions to Peruvian aviation authorities.

The embattled airline has other problems. Its founder, Fernando Zevallos ? suspected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of being a major cocaine smuggler ? faces retrial here on drug trafficking charges, expected to begin in several months.

He formed Aero Continente in 1992, allegedly with drug profits to ship cocaine from Peru to Mexico.

"Our flights to the United States will continue," Zevallos told reporters Thursday, "not with Aero Continente's Peruvian-registered airplanes but with airplanes leased from other authorized companies until this temporary suspension is lifted."

Zevallos said of the FAA decision: "We don't agree with their opinion, but we respect it."

Local news media have reported a spate of safety incidents involving Aero Continente, including one plane that made a fiery skid on the runway in December after its landing gear failed to engage.