Last foreign carriers halt flights to Venezuela after Trump’s airspace ban

Copa, Wingo, Satena, and Boliviana halt Venezuela flights, citing navigation signal issues and safety concerns.

Bogota, Colombia – The last international airlines flying to Venezuela have suspended routes to the country, days after United States President Donald Trump declared the South American country’s airspace closed.

Panamanian carrier Copa and its Colombian budget subsidiary Wingo announced Wednesday evening that routes to Caracas would be suspended on December 4 and 5, while Colombian state airline Satena and Bolivian flagship carrier Boliviana de Aviacion also cancelled flights on Thursday.

“Due to intermittent problems today with one of the navigation signals during its flight to Caracas… [Copa and Wingo] took the preventative decision to temporarily suspend flights to and from this city,” wrote Copa and Wingo in statements.

The companies added that the interruptions “at no time compromised operational safety”, with a spokesperson telling Al Jazeera that aircraft from both carriers had been affected by the signal problems.

On Thursday, Colombian government airline Satena suspended its route to Valencia  – Venezuela’s third-largest city – while Boliviana also cancelled its flight to Caracas. Neither has made a public statement at the time of publication.