MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US and Venezuela reach civil aviation agreement

United States authorities on Friday raised Venezuela's civil aviation security classification to Category 1, a Federal Aviation Administration official announced.

The decision avoids possible retaliation by Caracas, which had threatened to ban U.S. airline flights to Venezuela. With the previous FAA rating of Category 2, airlines from that country are banned from flying into the United States.

According to Caracas sources the decision came after several consultations between the State Department and Venezuelan authorities, which ended with the visit of an FAA team to check Venezuela's commercial aircraft and evaluate airline security procedures.

The meetings avoided Venezuela enforcing on March 30 its plan to restrict U.S. flights as a reprisal against a similar restriction that Washington has applied to Venezuelan airlines since 1995.

The measure limiting the number of U.S. flights to Venezuela that was twice postponed and was finally announced to begin on April 25 was subject to the results of the bilateral negotiations, Venezuela's Infrastructure Minister Ramon Carrizales revealed last month.

Venezuela has been ranked as Category 2 since 1995, and as a result its airlines have had to lease airplanes and crews from other companies in order to fly to the United States. Caracas argued that it complies with all the security regulations required by the United States and has invested millions of dollars to modernize its radar and security equipment and to train its pilots.

The Venezuelan Airlines Association has called it "a well-known fact" that since 1995 "Venezuela has progressed" in the aviation sector "up to the point of reaching positions of leadership in legal and regulatory codes, airline safety, and in the training and professionalizing of aviation staff".