The Spanish Airline Pilots Association (SEPLA) has petitioned Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) to either cease commercial flights to Venezuela or else overnight crews in other countries given the South American state's worsening sociopolitical outlook.

In a statement issued last week, SEPLA said the current security situation in Venezuela puts crews in physical danger given their need to commute to and from Caracas Simón Bolivar airport.

As a result, it has called on management to assess the situation and either cancel flights or find other alternatives that guarantee the safety of the crew.

With its 3x weekly Madrid Barajas-Caracas service, Air Europa is one of the few remaining foreign airlines to continue serving Venezuela directly.

Fellow Spanish carrier Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas) has already begun operating its Madrid Barajas-Caracas flights with a technical stopover at Santo Domingo Las Américas. In the Dominican Republic, a new set of crew boards the aircraft in order to operate the onward flight to Caracas and then the nonstop service back to Madrid. TAP Portugal (Lisbon) has opted for a similar procedure operating its Lisbon-Caracas flights via Curacao.

For its part, Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery) has now suspended indefinitely, the sale of tickets for its weekly Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini-Caracas service, again citing the country's security situation.