The Venezuelan government announced on July 29 that it will suspend all commercial flights from Venezuela to Panama and the Dominican Republic effective 2000L (0000Z) on July 31.
The move is a diplomatic retaliation after the Panamanian and Dominican governments refused to recognise the result of Venezuela's presidential election this past Sunday which saw incumbent Nicolás Maduro winning another six-year term, beginning January 10, 2025. Simultaneously, Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations and expelled the diplomatic missions of seven Latin American countries including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Perú, Panamá, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. The opposition insists that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the real victor.
Copa Airlines (CM, Panamá City Tocumen International) currently operates flights from Panama City Tocumen to Caracas Simón Bolivar, Valencia Arturo Michelena International, Barquisimeto, Barcelona José Antonio Anzoategui, and Maracaibo. It announced on social media several alternatives for travellers flying between Panama and Venezuela beyond July 31, including a complete or partial refund, travel vouchers, and date and destination flexibility.
The Panamanian civil aviation authority (Autoridad Aeronáutica Civil de Panamá) said the embargo also applies to general aviation aircraft with Venezuelan registrations wishing to enter Panamanian territory, "until a clear mechanism is established [...] to determine the requirements, the processing time, and approval of landing permits of each country." The only Venezuelan carrier currently offering scheduled passenger flights to Panama is Venezolana (WW, Maracaibo), serving the Caracas-Tocumen route.
Neither the Dominican Republic’s civil aviation board (Junta de Aviación Civil) nor the civil aviation institute (Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil) have publicly addressed Venezuela’s decision. Rutaca Airlines, Laser Airlines, Avior Airlines, Venezolana, Turpial Airlines, and SKYhigh Dominicana operate flights between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
Both SKYhigh Dominicana and Laser Airlines announced on social media that all tickets for flights to Venezuela after July 31 can be rescheduled within the next year. None of the other carriers have made any such announcements.
On Friday, July 26, a Copa Airlines flight bound for Caracas from Panamá City Tocumen was banned from Venezuelan airspace, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said on social media, allegedly as an attempt to block several Latin American former presidents from observing Sunday's poll.
Mulino claimed the aircraft had been denied permission to take off as long as the former presidents, who included Mexico’s Vicente Fox, Panama’s Mireya Moscoso, Costa Rica’s Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, and Bolivia’s Jorge Quiroga, were onboard.
