Venezuela suspended TAP Air Portugal's operations for 90 days after the carrier transported opposition leader Juan Guaido back into Venezuela last week.
Venezuela's civil aviation authority (Inac) is investigating the airline for allegedly allowing Guaido to board flight TAP 173 with forged identity documents, transporting "unauthorized material" and failing to properly disinfect the aircraft's passenger cabin before the flight departed from Lisbon for Caracas, Transportation minister Hipolito Abreu said today.
The Portuguese carrier could be banned permanently if the Inac investigation concludes the airline engaged in "ill-intentioned conduct," Abreu added.
Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela's legitimate president by over 50 countries, including Portugal, boarded the flight using the name Antonio Marquez, according to Abreu.
A senior aide to Guaido says he used his valid Venezuelan identity card.
Guaido's cousin Juan Jose Marquez, a commercial pilot who accompanied him on the flight, was arrested at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas after he was allegedly found to be carrying a bulletproof vest.
Marquez is currently jailed at the Caracas headquarters of military counter-intelligence agency DGCIM and will be tried for treason, among other charges, a presidential palace official told Argus.
Diosdado Cabello, head of National Constituent Assembly (ANC) and part of President Nicolas Maduro's inner circle, said "explosive substances" were found in the suspect's luggage.
Marquez's family denies the accusations.
TAP Air Portugal did not comment on the Venezuelan suspension, but a local executive with the airline denied the any international or Venezuelan civil aviation security regulations were violated.
The executive said the Maduro government is engaging in "political reprisal" against the carrier for transporting Guaido, who has been leading a US-backed campaign to unseat Maduro for more than a year.
Tap Portugal's suspension leaves only seven international carriers with Venezuelan operations, including Air France, Turkish Airlines, Copa, Caribbean Airlines, Spain's Iberia, Air Europa and Plus Ultra, according to INAC.
The US imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned carrier Conviasa on 7 February.
