Colombia, Venezuela To Restore Air Travel From November 7 - Ambassador

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2022) The Venezuelan authorities have informed Colombia that air travel between the two countries will be restored from November 7, Colombian Ambassador in Caracas Armando Benedetti said on Wednesday.

"The Venezuelan government informs us that the air operations between Colombia and Venezuela will begin on Monday. Our state-run airline Satena will be flying around route Bogota-Caracas, and Venezuelan airline Turpial - around route Caracas-Bogota," Benedetti said on Twitter.

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro visited Caracas and met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for the first time. The sides signed a joint declaration outlining the key areas of future cooperation. The presidents named the restoration of the border between the countries, the opening of land, air, river, and sea transport, the creation and reactivation of joint border security mechanisms, as well as the restoration of consular services as the first step for the normalization of bilateral ties.

Relations between Venezuela and Colombia were severed in 2019 due to the recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president by Bogota. New Colombian President Gustavo Petro took office on August 7 with the intention to restore ties with Venezuela. In addition to the humanitarian aspect - millions of people in both countries have relatives in neighboring countries - the restoration of trade ties is important for Venezuela and Colombia. Trade between them reached $8 billion.