Venezuela's national flag carrier, Conviasa Airlines, has cancelled a scheduled flight from Guangzhou in Guangdong to the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas citing force majeure, the carrier said, disrupting what is believed to be the only direct air link between China and Venezuela.

In a notice posted on its social media account on Saturday, Conviasa said flight V0771, which was due to depart Guangzhou at 3 am on Monday, had been cancelled due to reasons beyond its control.

A Conviasa customer service representative in China said the cancellation was made for security reasons amid what the airline described as an unstable international situation. Passengers would be offered full refunds or rebooking, the representative said.

For passengers who had purchased tickets for the Guangzhou-Moscow leg of the route, flights to Moscow would not be affected, the representative added. However, the onward Moscow-Caracas segment would be cancelled, with the aircraft returning to Venezuela without passengers. The airline has notified airport counters and published the information on its official WeChat account, the representative said.

Conviasa operates the China-Venezuela route on a biweekly basis. According to the airline, flights from Venezuela to China are currently operating as scheduled, with the next departure set for Jan 16, though passengers have been advised to monitor updates for any changes.

Flight V0770 from Caracas to Guangzhou landed safely on Sunday morning, the airline said.

Conviasa launched the Caracas-Guangzhou service, with a stop in Moscow, in December 2024.