MIAMI — Dynamic Airways (2D/DYA) has announced the start of daily service between Fort Lauderdale and Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela as of next July 17, making the airlines’ first service to the Latin American country and the first airline to open flights to Venezuela in three years.The last airline operating flights between both cities was American Airlines (AA) between late 2003 until January 2005, as the route was dropped in favor of strengthening AA’s Miami hub. Later on, in 2007, Spirit filed an application with the Department of Transportation and INAC Venezuela to exploit the route. However, the authorization required from Venezuelan civil aviation authorities has not been granted so far.According to Bill Grey, Chief Marketing Officer, Dynamic Airways “This new route gives our customers direct daily access between these two key markets for the first time and will also provide customers with highly demanded low-cost service from South Florida to Caracas and further."At the present time most of international carriers serving Venezuela opted to reduce frequencies or suspend service given the lengthy delays in the repatriation of their incomes for ticket sales and cargo space since 2013. During the 71st IATA Annual General Meeting held in Miami in early June, Peter Cerda, IATA’s Latin America Regional Vice President admitted “We hadn’t had any relevant progress in the negotiations so far and, to be honest, we don’t believe we will see any advances in the coming two years.” The outstanding amount nears 3.6 billion dollars.The arrival of Dynamic Airways to the Venezuelan market might represent an opportunity to the airline to catch an underserved market, currently dominated by AA and SBA Airlines in the Caracas – Miami route. However, the demand for air travel in the Latin American country has dwindled in the recent months due to a strong economy recession and cuts in travel allowances for travelers to the United States.Dynamic Airways seems to be optimistic about the route startup. Grey assured "Venezuela is a key market for Dynamic." However the airline seems to take a cautious approach as no tickets will be offered in Bolivars in an apparent move to minimize exposure to risk in an already volatile market. The airline is seeking to expand its routes to Venezuela by adding a New York City – Caracas and Fort Lauderdale – Maracaibo service, which according to Dynamic will be announced “in follow weeks.”
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