Damage to Maiquetía airport from earthquakes threatens Venezuela’s return to isolation

The epicenter of the destruction caused by the two earthquakes on June 24 is located in the coastal state of La Guaira, where the Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetía is located. Two of its three runways have already been cleared for aid and rescue flights, But experts estimate that business operations will likely not resume for several months.

In the longer term, the loss of numerous Venezuelan pilots and other workers who lived in La Guaira will take years to overcome. a country that has seen more than a quarter of its population emigrate during the last decade.

The aftershocks keep the population on alert. When the possibility of finding survivors began to diminish last week, international rescue teams managed to extract some victims from the rubble, while Venezuelans removed concrete and metal structures with their hands in a desperate search for their loved ones.

One of them was Marcos Pérez, chief pilot of Caracas Air, a national airline, and NAV Aviation training academy instructor.

“It affected me a lot. Many of my students died”said Pérez, 52, with a broken voice. “The director of the university I worked with died; his house collapsed. I have friends whose death has already been confirmed.”

Bloomberg spoke to about a dozen Venezuelan pilots searching for missing colleagues or family members. Many were actively involved in rescue and relief efforts, including some who piloted humanitarian flights.

There are no official figures on victims in the aeronautical sector, but publications about missing pilots and flight personnel flood citizen chat groups and unofficial records of missing people. One pilot stated that Around 90% of the country’s aviation sector has ties to La Guaira.

On Monday, Venezuela’s aviation authority issued a notification requiring prior authorization for international flights to land or take off from the country until July 2. The agency had issued an airspace restriction on Sunday, although it withdrew it shortly after. Opposition leader María Corina Machado stated on Monday that the regime closed the country’s airspace to prevent her planned return to Venezuela.

The devastation of the airport reflects the broader deterioration of Venezuela’s infrastructurewhich had already been affected by years of mismanagement and corruption. Ports, roads and bridges around the epicenter, in Yaracuy state, suffered serious damage.

Of the three main runways in Maiquetía, one was under repair, so commercial flights They used another one that suffered significant cracks after the earthquake, according to a person with knowledge of airport operations who asked not to be identified. Last week, US officials inspected the runway that was under repair and certified that it was ready for operation. That runway has been used by rescue teams from countries such as Portugal, Qatar and Germany.

Pilots consulted by Bloomberg estimate that the airport could begin operating with reduced capacity within two to three months.

For now, the airport buildings were devastated. “There is very little information from the authorities about the specific damages”said Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association. De Loaiza pointed out that it will also be necessary to carry out a staff census, since the majority of Maiquetía employees live in La Guaira.

Pérez stated that exhaustive studies will be necessary to determine what type of aircraft will be able to use the damaged runways. Due to the weight of the planes, the runway could fracture and cause a serious accident if not properly evaluated, he said. He added that the structure of the airport must also be analyzed.

The aviation sector is in ruins, said Andruys Hernández Solórzano, a 32-year-old Venezuelan pilot and flight instructor who works daily in Maiquetía.

“Behind each flight there is great machinery that makes these operations possible.”“, he stated. In addition to pilots and cabin crews, he mentioned ground logistics personnel, passenger services, control authorities, firefighters, fuel supply services and many others.

The catastrophe dealt a double blow to the Venezuelan aeronautical sector, affecting both its infrastructure and its already limited workforce, said aviation lawyer Rodolfo Ruiz. Replacing those workers will be difficult because aviation professionals require years of training, he added.

Franco Sampieri Schembri, president of the Association of Pilots and Aeronautical Professionals of Venezuela, urged the government to declare the country’s airports as humanitarian corridors to expedite the delivery of aid.

“Bureaucracy cannot be the limit of hope for a suffering people. Given the urgency of saving lives, the rules must be subordinated,” he stated.

Tourism chambers, which include airlines, are also evaluating the impact of the disaster, said Vicky Herrera, president of the Venezuelan Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies.

Herrera pointed out that they still do not have a balance sheet and that there are many missing people who work in airlines and specifically in Maiquetía, in addition to the fact that there is equipment that was trapped at the airport and cannot be removed.

Most incoming international flights have been diverted to the airport in Valencia, a city located about two hours by road from Caracas, or to the Libertador military air base in Maracay, about 90 minutes away. The latter could later be used to resume limited commercial operations, Herrera said.

The airport has a long history in the oil countryAfter the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999, the Venezuelan economy and decades of political stability began to unravel, a process that accelerated under his chosen successor, Nicolás Maduro, who was captured and transferred out of the country by US forces in January.

Since then, the airport showed signs of recovery, with the return of oil executives and investors. The earthquakes interrupted that process.

Damage is also likely New United Airlines and Qatar Airways routes will be delayedscheduled to begin in July, De Loaiza said.

In 1999, La Guaira was hit by torrential rains that caused landslides and flash floods, but a few months later the airport had resumed operations. Citing that experience, De Loaiza stated that “The need for connectivity will make these recoveries as fast as possible.”

“Our industry is characterized by resilience,” said Hernández. “The union of pilots and aviation in Venezuela is quite united.”

Peter Cerda, regional vice president for the Americas of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), warned that reopening the Maiquetía airport will be only the first step.

“It is one thing to reopen the airport and “It’s quite another to restore normal operations.”he stated. Engineers still must determine whether the existing structure can be repaired or if the damage is so severe that an entirely new terminal will need to be built.

Venezuela may have to resort to temporary passenger facilities as reconstruction progresses, similar to the emergency infrastructure used at the Santiago airport after the 2010 Chile earthquake, Cerda said.

The priority, he stated, is to restore operations “in a safe, efficient and fully compliant manner with international standards.”