Air Europa to resume limited flights to Venezuela in February

MADRID, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Spanish carrier Air Europa will gradually resume flying to Caracas from Madrid this month after the service was suspended in November amid rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, the company said on Monday.

It scheduled flights for February 17, 20 and 22, but did not say when its five weekly flights between Madrid and Caracas would fully resume.

Air Europa was among a long list of airlines that halted operations to and from Venezuela after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned of a "potentially hazardous situation" when flying over the country, long before a U.S. military strike and raid on January 3.

U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and transported him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges. President Donald Trump said in late January that he planned to reopen Venezuela's airspace following a discussion with the country's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez.

Spain's flag carrier Iberia, which also cancelled flights to Caracas in November, said on January 30 that it planned to resume the operations by April.

Another airline, Plus Ultra, expects to resume service between Madrid and Caracas on March 3, with two weekly flights, the company said in a LinkedIn post on Monday.