CAL cancels Caracas flights over blackout

THE massive blackout in Venezuela has led to state carrier Caribbean Airlines (CAL) cancelling two flights there scheduled for today.

CAL, in a media release on Sunday, announced that because there was no electricity or back-up electricity supply at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, Caracas, Venezuela, its services BW 300 (Trinidad to Venezuela) and BW 301 (Venezuela to Trinidad) for March 11 were cancelled.

"The affected passengers will be accommodated on other services," it said.

CAL flies twice per week to Caracas, on Mondays and Saturdays.

Seventeen people have reportedly died as a result of the four-day power outage in Venezuela, which has 16 states completely without power and six with partial power. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed the outage on US sabotage and a cyberattack, while opposition leader Juan Guaido blamed the inefficiency and corruption of the Maduro regime.