In an unusual move, a new time zone will take effect in South America from the 1st of May. As part of a measure to battle an energy crisis in Venezuela, the president also gave the public sector every Friday off until at least June 6th – to save electricity.
In addition, the entire country will change timezone from UTC -4h30 to UTC-4 from 01MAY, to ensure more daylight in the evening when energy consumption peaks.
At SVMI/Simon Bolivar, Primary radar has been off the air since 04APR – and remains out of service until the end of May – it’s unclear if this is electricity related.
If operating to Venezuela after 01MAY, local time will therefore be 4 hours behind UTC.
More on the topic:
- More: GAR Procedure for UK Flights
- More: Venezuela & Caribbean Airspace Update
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More reading:
- Latest: GAR Procedure for UK Flights
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Thanks Guillermo, you’re right – we’ve updated the article.
The time change is UTC -4 and not UTC -5 as mentioned here, please research and correct the information you are distributing.