Spanish company cancels aircraft sale to Venezuela

A Spanish company had cancelled the sale of aircraft to Venezuela because it considered substituting the aircraft parts banned by the United States too expensive, Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Wednesday.

Spanish aircraft manufacturer Constructiones Aeronauticas SA, known as CASA, cancelled a contract with the Venezuelan government for 12 transport planes and two CN-235 surveillance craft.

The United States, whose relations with Venezuela are at a low ebb, had banned the Spanish firm from using U.S. designs and parts, which had been part of of technology transfer agreements.

CASA had tried to find other alternatives such as replacing these parts with ones available on the international market, but this idea turned out to be too expensive to be commercially feasible, said Moratinos.

"It is nothing more than this. We has lost out on a chance for a Spanish company to sell 12 aircraft," he said.

Moratinos reiterated that he never believed that the sale of these planes to Venezuela would change the military balance in the region, adding that the sale of eight patrol boats manufactured by Spanish firm Navantia was going ahead.

Source: Xinhua