Venezuelan aeronautics authorities expect Venezuelan carriers participation in US-Venezuela air traffic may increase from 10 percent to 50 percent, passing from 120,000 to some 600,000 travelers a year.

The goal is to have Venezuelan airlines regain the market share they had in 1995, when the United States authorities downgraded Venezuelan carriers based on safety considerations.

Francisco Paz Fleitas, president of the Venezuelan Civil Aviation Institute (INAC,) claims Venezuelan airlines are not participating in the US-Venezuela market on an equal footing. Ninety percent of people traveling from Venezuela to the US every year are Venezuelans, but only 10 percent travel by Venezuelan carriers, with the other 90 percent in the hands of US airlines.

Some 4,000 people travel from Venezuela to US on a daily basis. They travel by three US carriers and two Venezuelan carriers. While Venezuela and US carriers operating in this route are similar in number, US airlines have a higher flight frequency than Venezuelan carriers.

Balance, says INAC, will be achieved when the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upgrades Venezuelan carriers to category 1. Otherwise, Venezuela is to ban US airlines from flying to from Venezuela as of March 30th.

Venezuela claims it meets 89 percent of international safety standards, which puts the country above the world average and is enough reason for upgrading.