The largest airline in Latin America, Latam, says it is suspending its flights to Venezuela because of the worsening economic situation. The suspension came a day after Germany’s Lufthansa said it would suspend its services to the country. The German company said Venezuela owed it millions in ticket revenues. Oil-rich Venezuela has been hit hard by the global drop in oil prices and suffers from high inflation and a chronic shortage of basic goods. Several airline companies have said that currency controls in Venezuela made it impossible for airlines to convert their earnings into dollars and send the money abroad. In a statement, Latam airlines said it would suspend its operations to Caracas airport “temporarily and for an unspecified time.” It said flights on its Sao Paulo to Caracas route would end first, within days, and the other routes it runs to Caracas from Lima and Santiago would be halted by the end of July. Lufthansa said that it will suspend flights to Venezuela from 18 June due to economic difficulties in the country.
