Venezuela: Caracas Linked Again with Airport

1 comment | February 28th, 2006 | Trackback

A new bypass route to link Caracas with its international airport opened Feb. 26, ending an almost two-month crisis that turned a 45-minute trip into a several-hour ordeal when a condemned bridge forced all traffic onto a twisting, single-lane road through high-crime areas. The 1.5 mile bypass should dramatically reduce travel time between the airport, seaport and Caracas until a new bridge can be completed about a year from now. In other transport news, the government delayed until March 30 a ban on all flights by Delta and Continental airlines and restrictions on flights by American Airlines. Originally, Venezuela was going to enforce the ban March 1 but agreed to the delay to allow officials to seek a negotiated solution. The ban is in retaliation for a 1995 ban of Venezuelan carriers into the U.S. Venezuela believes it has complied with International Civil Aviation Organization regulations and should be given full rights to fly to the U.S.