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El TERREMOTO dejó a VENEZUELA sin su aeropuerto principal ¿Y AHORA - Viajando con Vero
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00:00For decades, this was much more than an airport. It was the gateway for millions.
00:05of people to Venezuela, the place where families said goodbye and many years later
00:11They reunited. Here began the holidays, business trips, dreams, but on the 24th
00:17In June everything changed. In a matter of seconds, an earthquake caused damage that forced
00:22to suspend commercial operations at Venezuela's most important airport. Thousands
00:27Passengers were left without answers, flights were cancelled, and itineraries were completely altered.
00:32And one question began to be repeated both inside and outside the country: How does it continue to function?
00:37What happens to a nation when it loses its main gateway to the world?
00:42Travelers continue to report on the current situation in Venezuela.
00:47my country and one of the major consequences left by the terrible earthquake on the 24th
00:52June saw the collapse and closure of our Simón Bolívar International Airport, our airport
00:58main one that for decades has been the gateway to and from Venezuela that connects us
01:04with the world. So in this video we're going to learn how they're trying to solve this
01:09the problem and how thousands of families have been affected by their cancelled flights.
01:23Just hours after the earthquake, authorities announced the closure of this airport.
01:29In fact, one of the videos that quickly went viral showed so many passengers who were
01:35Those inside felt the earthquake and could see the infrastructure collapsing.
01:40Pieces of the ceiling. It was truly a moment filled with immense panic. However, not only that
01:46Not only was the part of the terminal where the passengers were located affected, but also the runway where
01:51It is said that a large crack opened up, and for this reason the authorities were forced to
01:56cancel all commercial flights.
02:03There is no official date yet for the airport to resume normal operations. However,
02:09Several specialists estimate that this restoration of the entire infrastructure could take several months.
02:22While Simón Bolívar Airport was closing, another airport had to take on a responsibility for which
02:28It was never designed. This is the Arturo Michelena Airport located in the city of Valencia and for
02:35so that my travelers can have an idea of how everything has changed since the closure was announced.
02:40main airport. This airport was usually a small airport from which flights departed.
02:46international to nearby countries such as Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic and now it has become
02:53Transatlantic flights, for example, those departing from Venezuela to Spain. Of course, the lines have increased.
03:00The delays are said to mean that many passengers arrive up to six hours before their flight because
03:06As you can see, it's an airport, a small terminal that is now receiving a great many
03:10people. To give you an idea, before June 24th there were approximately 15 to 20 flights.
03:16international flights weekly and now it has increased to about 70 flights a week.
03:27Wow! I've never seen such a big plane land here at Valencia airport, a plane from
03:34almost 400 passengers are arriving right now from Madrid.
03:41I present to you Mr. Victor Jimenez, he was part of the taxi drivers' association here at Arturo Michelena.
03:47Mr. Victor, how long have you been working as a taxi driver here at the airport?
03:51Well, I'm five years old.
03:52And how has the number of races I did before June 24th changed to now?
03:58Did all these flights start departing from here?
04:00Well, look, it has changed considerably every 15 days, one or two trips, yes.
04:07And now, currently, how many trips are they making per week?
04:11Well, there are approximately 15 to 18 trips leaving daily for Caracas, yes.
04:18So, all things considered, has this situation benefited the taxi drivers here on Arturo Michelena because
04:25Are many more passengers arriving?
04:26To everyone, yes, of course, of course.
04:28Approximately how long does a trip from here to Caracas take?
04:32With the weather in our favor, two and a half hours, two and a quarter hours.
04:37And there's no traffic or anything?
04:38If it's not raining, there are accidents on the road.
04:41What is the first thing a passenger says to you when they get into your vehicle?
04:46How long will it take you? How long will the trip take?
04:51You know Caracas.
04:53We from the interior of the country have always been used to going there and then coming back here,
04:58But many people from Caracas had never landed in Valencia, right?
05:01Yes, so people think that the taxi drivers here, we're not trained,
05:06But we are qualified to travel domestically.
05:09What is the approximate fare between Valencia and Caracas?
05:14Between 90, 120, 130, it depends on where the person goes, what kind of Caracas they go to.
05:20Thank you very much, Mr. Victor, and may many more passengers come.
05:23We are here to serve you.
05:24Thank you.
05:25Today, this airport is not trying to replace Maiketía, it is trying to keep an entire country connected.
05:31Just a few weeks ago, this international terminal handled a much smaller number of flights.
05:36However, after spending several hours here, I was able to verify that despite the large number of passengers,
05:42The airport has been making adjustments to adapt to this new reality.
05:47Hello, what's your name?
05:48Frame.
05:48Marco, where is your flight going?
05:50To Spain.
05:51How many hours earlier did you arrive at the airport?
05:54We arrive at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it leaves at 9 at night, 6 hours earlier, plus
05:58or less.
05:59What led you to make the decision to come with so many hours in front of the action?
06:02Well, because we had already seen it, we had been told that there were very long queues and such and that we had to
06:06be
06:06Several hours earlier, even in Maiketía it's more or less the same, so...
06:09I heard your mom is flying soon too, do you think it will still be necessary to arrive 6 hours early or perhaps less?
06:15hours?
06:15It depends on how the situation develops between now and Sunday, I suppose.
06:18How was your experience today?
06:20They were quite organized and moved us in an orderly manner.
06:24I wouldn't expect them to move like that; I usually expected them to all pile in from the same tail and...
06:29How long did it take you to finally check in?
06:31It took us about 2 hours from when we arrived.
06:35The usual?
06:35Yeah.
06:36Your flight departed from the city of Caracas, correct?
06:38Yeah.
06:38How did you handle the reprogramming issue?
06:40It was a bit complicated because we had to call Europe, which is in Spain, and all that process.
06:45But anyway, in the end they gave us a flight directly from Valencia.
06:48although they only gave us one day's notice.
06:49Did you not have to pay anything at all?
06:51No, we didn't have to pay anything.
06:52Have a happy trip.
06:53Thank you.
06:54Behind every flight there is much more than just a ticket.
06:58There are families who were hoping to be reunited,
07:00people returning home
07:01and travelers who had to completely change their plans.
07:05Since the closure of the Simón Bolívar International Airport,
07:08Dozens of flights were cancelled or temporarily suspended.
07:12Some airlines managed to transfer their operations to Valencia airport,
07:16while others simply stopped flying until further notice.
07:22In fact, it happened to me too.
07:24I had a trip scheduled with TAP Air Portugal on July 6th.
07:28And this airline has completely cancelled its flights until further notice.
07:32So from there, many doubts arose in me.
07:35which I know many passengers may also have.
07:38For example, what rights do we have as passengers?
07:40Can we request a refund?
07:42How can we reschedule our trip?
07:45To answer all these questions,
07:47I wanted to talk to the experts on the subject,
07:49So I came to the Arcadia travel agency.
07:52Melanie Cordero, sales manager of the Arcadia travel agency,
07:56He will answer these questions for us.
07:57How are you, Melanie?
07:58My pleasure, Vero.
07:59Thank you for this opportunity and this space.
08:00to make many clarifications,
08:01I understand there are many questions,
08:03I have many doubts, what am I going to do?
08:05What's going to happen?
08:05And well, it's a pleasure to be able to answer all those questions here.
08:08Yes, I imagine that it has increased throughout this whole situation.
08:11all the work of the travel agency,
08:13because there are many doubts from people who already had their flight scheduled
08:17and that for all these reasons their flights have been cancelled or rescheduled.
08:21Exactly, look, every time there's a contingency,
08:24such as the closure of airspace, some cancellations,
08:26We travel agents step in.
08:28And well, this is no exception.
08:30Apart from that, well, we've been offering help
08:32and even to people who haven't bought a ticket directly from us,
08:35They should deal directly with the airline, but we offer our helping hand.
08:38because we know that communication with international airlines
08:41It is usually quite complicated.
08:43Yes, in fact, one of the most frequently asked questions may be
08:45What happens to the money I invested?
08:47If the airline has not yet set a date,
08:49Do I lose my money, or what can I do?
08:52There are different policies depending on the airline, okay?
08:55Each airline has a different policy.
08:57Some offer route rescheduling, date rescheduling
09:00and many are even offering refunds in light of the problem.
09:04So yes, depending on the airline,
09:06Some airlines do offer refunds.
09:07and others are simply rescheduling to the nearest airports.
09:11When you have the opportunity to buy the ticket
09:13and schedule your entire trip through a travel agency,
09:16You might have many benefits,
09:18Among those options is having professional people who can advise you in this case.
09:22But for those people who bought directly from the airline,
09:25What steps do they need to follow?
09:26We are offering help to those people
09:28who bought directly from the airline,
09:30helping to advise.
09:32However, since we do not have complete control over your ticket,
09:34There is very little we can do.
09:36However, help will always be available.
09:38What do these people need to be aware of?
09:39Well, from your email.
09:41Remember that when you make a ticket purchase,
09:43They ask for an email address.
09:44This email must be 100% active
09:47so they can view cancellations,
09:49schedule changes or route rescheduling
09:51or the date that the airline has provided them.
09:53Have you seen any distress or worry on the part of passengers?
09:57who already have their trip planned,
10:00whether leaving for Venezuela or arriving in Venezuela
10:02the coming months?
10:03Yes, there have been many, many questions.
10:06We even get passengers who bought tickets for December,
10:08for travel in December, October, November,
10:10And they are obviously worried because it's an investment they made.
10:13However, we recommend to those passengers
10:15They should be calm and have a little patience.
10:17Bearing in mind that this is simply a contingency measure,
10:21We are placing passengers at the nearest airports
10:24And thank God the airlines have spoken out quite quickly.
10:27But if your flight is from September onwards,
10:29even mid-August,
10:30Be patient, we are waiting and we have a lot of faith
10:32that the airport will be restored as soon as possible
10:35so that they can continue with regular operations.
10:37In other words, if they have their trip scheduled for after August,
10:40For example, the best thing to do for now is
10:42Do not make any date adjustments.
10:44Exactly. In addition, if your flight hasn't been cancelled,
10:48We should not request a route rescheduling date
10:51in advance.
10:52What happens if you do it?
10:53It would no longer be an involuntary change,
10:56but it would be a voluntary change,
10:57which will result in a penalty you will have to pay.
11:00So, preferably,
11:01Let's wait until your flight is notified as cancelled
11:03to proceed to take action.
11:05Well, thank you very much, Melanie.
11:06Thank you, Berta.
11:07All of Arcadia's staff are at your disposal.
11:10If you have any tickets that were cancelled
11:13and they still haven't managed to reschedule it,
11:15You can contact them and they will also offer that service.
11:18Correct.
11:18Thanks a lot.
11:19Of course, we are 100% at your service.
11:20Thank you.
11:27I had come to the airport a few days ago.
11:29to bring a friend and I had realized
11:31There were so many people, so many lines.
11:33However, today, quite large flights are arriving
11:37And from Europe, I thought it was going to be very congested.
11:39And yet I feel that it has flowed very smoothly.
11:43What is recommended is that passengers
11:44Please try to come with as few companions as possible.
11:48Because as you can see, it's a small airport
11:49and it can also collapse due to the number of people
11:52who come to accompany the passenger.
11:54Something I'm also realizing right now
11:56This one here, which is the National Terminal,
11:59The International Terminal is over there.
12:00They are practically turning it into Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
12:04The same international flights,
12:06Many of them are checking in on this side
12:08in what was called the National Terminal
12:10which will now be Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
12:13And one piece of good news amidst all this
12:15Many airlines are already doing this right now.
12:18selling flights and intends to establish regular flights.
12:21departing from Valencia to Spain.
12:24A specific example is the star airline
12:26with which you can now buy tickets
12:27to travel directly from Valencia to Madrid.
12:30It is also said that starting next week
12:32TAP Air Portugal begins flying from Valencia Airport
12:35and that probably with all this contingency
12:38This airport will become the alternate airport
12:41from Maiketía.
12:47Something I didn't expect to find at this moment.
12:49and it filled me with so much nostalgia
12:52It's seeing part of the Spanish rescue team
12:55Starting from here in Venezuela
12:57after some pretty difficult days
13:00full of horrible events
13:02and catastrophic in my country.
13:04But first of all, I want to thank
13:06on behalf of all Venezuelans
13:08for all the work they did
13:09This is extremely important to us.
13:11And we will always remember them as heroes
13:13who came, who arrived to help
13:16to all the Venezuelan people.
13:17How many days had they been here?
13:18Well, we've got eight.
13:19Eight days.
13:20Eight days.
13:21How has this whole situation been?
13:23How have they experienced it?
13:24How did Venezuelans receive them?
13:26Well, look, we came with every intention of helping.
13:29And what we have found is
13:30a real hell, honestly
13:32I have to say it this clearly.
13:34Because, I mean, it's been devastating.
13:38tremendous, tremendous.
13:39Didn't they expect it to be this serious?
13:40No no.
13:41In fact, colleagues who have been
13:44in many other places and so on
13:45They said they had never seen anything.
13:47like this type.
13:49With this catastrophe, right?
13:50Do you think much more could have been done?
13:53if perhaps more rescuers had arrived
13:55Or how could more lives have been saved?
13:57The difficulty we have had
13:59It has been in getting here
14:00Because, well, we came
14:03from Spain to Venezuela
14:03we had to spend the night
14:05even at the airport.
14:06Because at the airport
14:07Our flights and other things have been cancelled.
14:09It has been hard work
14:11But when we arrived
14:12Well, we've already started helping and helping.
14:15First time in Venezuela?
14:17Me on my second.
14:19And is Grandma here?
14:20First time in Venezuela?
14:21I am Venezuelan
14:23and I hosted them.
14:28My eyes want to fill with tears.
14:31to see them leave.
14:31They have been a wonderful team
14:34They have helped a lot
14:36but the countries
14:39They are changing
14:40the rescuers
14:41because the work
14:42It is extremely strong.
14:45I imagine that tiredness
14:46unable to sleep
14:47apart from everything else that can be seen
14:49But as I tell you
14:50Thank you so much, really.
14:52I feel that the entire Venezuelan people
14:53He is extremely grateful.
14:55with all countries
14:57who came here to intervene.
14:58Now I see them as a little flag
14:59from Venezuela
14:59Are they taking it as a souvenir?
15:01Completely.
15:01Of course.
15:03Thanks a lot.
15:03We see it in your heart.
15:04Thank you.
15:06Thank you.
15:22Thanks for watching the video.
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