In a move that should end a dispute that threatened air traffic between Venezuela and the United States, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it is "raising the safety rating of Venezuela" to the desired Category 1 status "following a reassessment of that country's civil aviation authority."

Venezuela had long chafed under restrictions that came with the lower Category 2 ranking the FAA gave it in 1995, which essentially meant the country did not meet standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

As a result of that ranking, Venezuela could not expand the access of its carriers to the U.S. market, and its airlines operating here had to rent planes and crew for flights to or from the United States, and came under tougher FAA scrutiny.

Earlier this spring, Venezuela threatened to slash access to that country by U.S. passenger and cargo airlines, to the levels they had in 1995. That would have meant ending flights by some U.S. carriers, and reducing others'. The U.S., in turn, threatened to end the limited access Venezuelan air carriers now have.

But after Venezuela twice extended its deadline -- with the latest threatened ban of U.S. flights due to kick in on April 25 -- the FAA sent an inspection team that found Venezuela's authorities to be overseeing their own air carriers according to ICAO rules.

Venezuela had threatened to block all flights by Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, restrict most flights by American Airlines and make similar cuts among cargo airlines based on their 1995 access levels.

Venezuelan carriers including Aeropostal and Santa Barbara, which operated U.S. flights by leasing planes from U.S. companies, were seen among the likely beneficiaries. In recent weeks they have announced plans to expand and upgrade their fleets and establish new routes.

The Miami Herald reported that other Venezuelan carriers including state airline Conviasa were also considering acquiring new equipment and adding crews to be able to operate in the United States.

John D. Boyd