Caracas Chronicles

Flight cancellations to and from Venezuela have left thousands of travelers stranded. From European airports to terminals in Colombia, the stories reveal people caught in a state of abandonment, facing costly alternatives and, in many cases, deep uncertainty about when they will be able to return to the country. Although airlines have begun offering alternative routes, many travelers remain in a financial limbo that was never part of their original budget.

Kimberly Medina improvised a return through Cúcuta in order to reach Caracas, incurring significant additional expenses. She was traveling with her boyfriend and, faced with the possibility of being stranded in Bogotá for several more days, they chose an alternative route. “We ended up flying from Bogotá to Cúcuta with Latam. Each ticket cost $133,” she says. That first leg alone added $266 to their expenses.

Their return involved spending a night in Cúcuta—about $60 at the exchange rate in Colombian pesos—and the rest of the journey turned into a chain of taxis, border crossings, and distorted payments. “From the airport (in Cúcuta) to the hotel we paid 15,000 pesos (around $4). The next day, another taxi from the hotel to Migración Colombia cost another $10,” Medina explains.

By that point, they had spent some $340 that were never part of initial calculations.

Costs rose sharply as they got closer to Venezuela.

“The taxi from Migración Colombia to the Venezuelan border cost $50 (paid in Colombian pesos),” she says.

Once they crossed into Venezuelan territory, things became even more complicated. “At the border they won’t accept bolívares under any circumstances, and if they do, they charge a premium.”

Medina recounts that she managed to strike a deal with a taxi driver to take them from San Antonio del Táchira to the Mayor Buenaventura Vivas Guerrero Airport, located in Santo Domingo del Táchira, and pay in local currency. Still, the fare—originally set at $50—rose to $72 for paying in bolívares.

After spending over $600 to reach next-door Venezuela via Cúcuta—excluding food costs—she and her boyfriend finally landed at Maiquetía. The route through Zulia could be twice as expensive.

“The taxi from the border (San Antonio del Táchira) to Santo Domingo was $72. Others charge $80, $120, and even $130 for the same trip,” she says.

On top of the unexpected costs of returning to Venezuela, the couple had to add a flight to Caracas costing $75 per ticket from Santo Domingo.

Travelers’ desperation becomes an “opportunity” for locals looking to profit from the situation. “We tried to exchange dollars for pesos (in Norte de Santander). We wanted to exchange $90 and they offered us the equivalent of $50. The distortion is huge,” Medina laments. After spending just over $600—excluding food costs that were also unplanned—she and her boyfriend finally landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves Caracas.

Medina warns that taking the route through Zulia state, which was their Plan D, could be twice as much as returning via Cúcuta.

She also explains that buying a direct ticket from Bogotá to Caracas has become far more expensive after the first days of flight suspensions to Venezuela. Round-trip Bogotá–Caracas tickets that previously cost around $285 have risen to between $500 and $1,000.

Stranded in Germany

While some Venezuelans look for alternative routes involving overland travel combined with domestic flights—or entirely by road—others have been unable to move at all from Europe. The suspension of air operations has left them with few options and, more recently, with connections through Colombia that, according to people posting on social media, come with little clarity about whether the new leg must be paid separately.

A man in Caracas, who asked to remain anonymous, described the situation faced by his wife and son, both stranded in Germany. His son, who emigrated from Venezuela nearly five years ago, had planned to spend Christmas and New Year’s in the country. His Turkish Airlines flight was scheduled to land on December 14.

“They sent a notice about the ticket saying: the trip is canceled—what do you want to do? Reschedule or request a refund,” he recounts. His son chose the refund, fearing he could get stuck in Venezuela and be unable to return. The son told his father: “Imagine I manage to travel through another route and things get worse, and then I can’t go back to work in Germany.”

Passenger must complete several administrative procedures in order to receive a refund, a process he is currently handling—but without urgency, having given up on spending the holidays in his homeland.

“We haven’t found ok alternatives because the ones we’ve seen are extremely expensive. I was given quotes, one via Bogotá and another via Curaçao, for around $3,200 one way.”

Nicolás Maduro recently spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and both agreed “on the importance of restoring, as soon as possible, the Caracas–Istanbul–Caracas air connection through Turkish Airlines.” Despite this announcement, the airline has not issued any public statement.

Turkish Airlines canceled its flights to and from Venezuela, along with other international carriers, after the US Federal Aviation Administration recommended on November 21 that airlines “exercise extreme caution” when flying over Venezuelan territory and the southern Caribbean due to “a potentially dangerous situation in the region.”

In the case of his wife, she received her flight cancellation notice just two days after Maduro and Erdoğan spoke. The company through which the ticket was purchased in Germany informed her that the airline had suspended flights to Venezuela until January 18, while a Venezuelan travel agency claimed that Turkish Airlines has its operations canceled until January 31, 2026.

Although the woman did not want to spend Christmas in Germany because of the cold, the family decided that she would remain abroad for the rest of the month, as the available options to return involve prohibitively high costs. Among the routes they considered to return to Caracas were Bogotá and Curaçao.

To date, only domestic airlines are operating international routes from Venezuela.

“We haven’t found ok alternatives because the ones we’ve seen are extremely expensive. I was given quotes, one via Bogotá and another via Curaçao, for around $3,200 one way,” her husband explains.

He adds that even a flight scheduled for January 12 is priced at around $1,500, “when the Turkish Airlines round-trip ticket, with two checked bags, was around 1,200 euros.” For now, the solution is for her to spend Christmas and New Year’s with their son in Hamburg and wait until 2026 “to see how we can sort this out.”

He also notes that if they were to take any of these return options, the cost of the tickets would have to be added to the $1,200 currently tied up with Turkish Airlines. He explains that the refund process “is extremely complicated,” as they were told they must wait because the situation “is not a problem of our making” and must be resolved first.

“Tickets are costing more than double. It’s a very complicated situation if you want to solve it immediately,” he says.

To date, only domestic airlines are operating international routes from Venezuela. Turpial and Rutaca have announced direct flights to Panama. Turpial’s flights will depart from and return to Valencia, in Carabobo state, starting December 15, while Rutaca will operate from Barquisimeto, in Lara state, starting December 20.

Uncertainty and desperation do not only affect those trying to enter the country. They also weigh heavily on those trying to leave—especially during the Christmas season.