As we reported last night, the regime of Nicolás Maduro will suspend flights that connect Venezuela with Panama and the Dominican Republic starting Wednesday, July 31 at 8:00 PM as a response to these two countries’ stance against the electoral fraud perpetrated by the Venezuelan dictator.
This will mainly affect the operations of Copa Airlines, a company that has been rebuilding an important network in Venezuela post-pandemic, facilitating the connectivity of the South American country with other markets through its hub at Tocumen Airport.
“Copa Airlines regrets the inconvenience that this measure, beyond the control of the Company, may cause in the travel plans of its passengers and will do everything possible to mitigate its impact“, they stated in a communiqué.
Since it is still not possible to determine how long the measure adopted by the Venezuelan government will last, for passengers with flights scheduled after July 31, Copa Airlines will offer these options:
- Date and/or origin/destination changes within the same region without additional charges.
- Cancellation of the trip retaining the ticket value as credit for a future travel date.
- Refund of unused and partially used tickets. You can manage your request at copaair.com
The airline clarifies that due to the high volume of affected passengers, the refund process will take longer than usual.
“Copa Airlines reaffirms its commitment to the safety and well-being of its passengers, and will carry out all measures within its reach to mitigate the impact that this measure may have on their travel plans. Likewise, it suggests that its passengers stay informed about the evolution of this situation through the airline’s official channels“, concludes the communiqué.
Scheduled operations of Copa Airlines in Venezuela
Copa Airlines offers about 42 weekly flights each way between Panama and Venezuela, distributed as follows:
- Barcelona (BLA): three weekly flights.
- Barquisimeto (BRM): three weekly flights.
- Caracas (CCS): 23 weekly flights.
- Maracaibo (MAR): six weekly flights.
- Valencia (VLN): seven weekly flights.
This represents a total offer of 6,700 seats per week in each direction.
