Venezuela’s Broken Wings

At the end of last week, it was learned that Venezuela’s state-owned airline Conviasa had come out of the national and international ticketing systems of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and that from now on the company itself will select the travel agencies to serve as intermediaries between Conviasa and its passengers, and that tickets will be issued directly by Conviasa. A measure that came into effect with the withdrawal of the Carrier Identification Plate No. 308 that belonged to the Venezuelan airline until Friday. It should be remembered that IATA is an association that brings together some 270 airlines worldwide that make between 80% and 85% of the flights recorded each day around the world. Among the advantages of being a member of IATA is the standardization of processes; the control of safety standards of the international commercial aviation, including travel agencies; it also serves as some sort of clearing house for airlines, for example, if a Venezuelan airline sells a ticket for a flight departing from Venezuela, and a passenger makes a transfer to another airline in another country to a third destination, the Venezuelan airline receives the payment for the whole journey, while IATA pays the other airline with its own funds as it awaits the reimbursement of the Venezuelan airline. More…