Bolivian airport workers get right cheeky
Posted on: October 19th, 2007 by Dave Bess
This past Tuesday, the Bolivian government was forced to take over the Viru Viru Airport in Santa Cruz after airport workers stopped an American Airlines plane already on the runway demanding cash be paid for landing fees. The plane contained 140 Miami-bound passengers. An Aerolines Argentinas was also held hostage.
Three members of the airport staff were armed and one soldier was wounded by gunfire as the army stormed the airport early that morning. Tear gas was deployed outside the terminal to keep more airport workers at bay. Head of civil Aviation Javier Garcia says that Viru Viru Airport “will remain militarized until the government is certain there will be no more disturbances.”
Yesterday reports from Viru Viru say that flights are operating normally, after the workers took their cause to an extreme, demanding hard currency in their hands instead of the fees being transferred to the airport authority in the usual fashion.
A Brazilian airline has suspended service to Bolivia until the situation becomes stable again.
www.aa.com