Expedia and Orbitz Travel Sites Stop Selling Packages and Flights to Venezuela

Travel sites Expedia and Orbitz has quietly stopped selling plane tickets to Venezuela amid a political crisis in this country, isolating it even more after years of declining flight services.

Thursday, it was impossible to find a Venezuelan city in the popular drop-down menu options to book hotels and flights to the South American country.

The Expedia Group, based in Bellevue, Washington, He added that the company had taken the necessary measures for the welfare of travelers and in accordance with recent warnings from foreign governments. not to go to Venezuela because of crimes and civil unrest.

"When the warning of the government reaches a certain level of concern about the trip, we act to close these destinations on our sites", spokeswoman Sarah Gavin told The Associated Press.

Orbitz has not responded to a request for comment.

This measure comes after the US State Department said on January 29 that Americans should not travel to Venezuela., warning against riots and the threat of arbitrary arrests and detentions as a result of dictator Nicolas Maduro's decision to sever diplomatic relations with the United States.

By raising your travel advice at the highest level, Venezuela joins a handful of war-torn countries (Yemen, South Sudan and Libya) that the United States government has clbadified as destinations to which "Do not travel".

The government also urged Americans to "Consider leaving while commercial flights are available."

For Venezuelans, as well as for the few business travelers and foreign journalists who still visit the country, travel options have fallen sharply as the country sinks into economic chaos marked by 7-digit hyperinflation and widespread scarcity.

American Airlines, with two daily flights from Caracas to Miami, it is the only US airline that serves the country after the withdrawal of Delta and United Airlines in 2017 in the middle of a political crisis that forced millions of people to flee the country.

Almost at the same time, several European and Latin American airlines withdrew. In addition, Iberia of Spain and TAP of Portugal have recently added stopovers in the Caribbean for their transatlantic flights so that their crews do not have to spend the night in the country devastated by the conflicts.

Venezuela is becoming increasingly isolated and the number of airlines canceling service due to weak customer demand and economic difficulties has increased. The International Air Transport Association has stated that Venezuela owes $ 3.8 billion to several international airlines, a debt that should not come out soon. The scheme has not respected the payment of bonds worth billions of dollars.