The presidential succession in Brazil, with the departure of Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician, and the inauguration of the leftist Luis Inácio Lula da Silva may have influenced a commercial decision, the return of the Venezuelan airline Conviasa to the country.
The state-owned company stopped operating in Brazil in February 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but even with the end of social restrictions, it had not resumed frequencies between the two countries.
However, that changed as soon as Lula took over the Brazilian government, on January 1st. Coincidence or not, the government of Nicolás Maduro, through SAAR Bolívar, which manages Venezuelan airports, announced on January 10 that the country “will be connected by air with the sister Federative Republic of Brazil”.
The flights, with no set start date, will connect Puerto Ordaz to Manaus on Thursdays. The 1,300 km route will be attended by Embraer E190 aircraft, which were sold to Conviasa in 2012, when the current Brazilian president’s party was in power.
Despite the announcement, there are still no records of flights in the Brazilian civil aviatin authority system, nor Conviasa itself lists Manaus among its destinations for the time being.
Estado Bolívar con CONEXIÓN INTERNACIONAL
Como el Gobernador @amarcanopsuv lo prometió, desde Febrero, desde Febrero Venezuela estará conectada vía aérea con la hermana República Federativa de BRASIL.
Vuelos DIRECTOS desde Puerto Ordaz, Ciudad Guayana hasta Manaos.
¡Vencimos! pic.twitter.com/IKxgMnXzmB
— SAAR Bolívar (@e_saarbolivar) January 10, 2023
Closed airspace
In June 2022, the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), the Venezuelan civil aviation authority, announced the reopening of the country’s airspace to receive regular flights from several countries, including Brazil.
Despite this, Conviasa decided not to reactivate the frequencies that were carried out even before the health crisis.
Brazilian airlines have not flown to Venezuela since 2016, when the Maduro government withheld financial income from several foreign companies, including Gol.
