Avianca suspends, resumes Venezuela flights after fighter jet incident

Colombia's commercial carrier Avianca on Saturday briefly suspended flights to and from Venezuela after a Venezuelan fighter jet caused a diplomatic incident by approaching one of its planes, the company said.

The warplane briefly approached the airliner flying from Madrid to Bogota on Friday, prompting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to order an investigation.

The incident took place Friday night, when Avianca's Boeing Dreamliner carrying 150 passengers detected the Venezuelan warplane "at close range," where it remained four minutes, the Colombian government said on Saturday.

The fighter jet then turned north and roared away.

The incident prompted diplomatic discussions and Maduro's order for an investigation. But Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, downplayed the incident early Saturday.

"The ministers have spoken and cleared it all up, everything is normal," he said. "There's no need to worry."

On the Venezuelan side, lawmaker Diosdado Cabello later called it a "regrettable misunderstanding.

"I understand, to the best of my knowledge, there was a regrettable misunderstanding. It was nothing planned against Avianca in any way at all. It will be taken care of," said Cabello, who is also the number two in Maduro's administration.

In the end, the suspension of two daily flights between Bogota and Caracas one daily flight between Caracas and Lima never took effect. The flights are to run as normal on Sunday, Avianca said.

The airline had previously reduced the frequency of its flights to crisis-wracked Venezuela.

Analysts have warned of a risk of violent unrest in this country of 30 million people.

Hit by the fall in crude oil prices, the Venezuelan economy has crashed. Food shortages have prompted looting in recent months.

Opposition leaders in Caracas plan mass street protests for next week, accusing the socialist government of staging a coup by blocking efforts for a recall referendum against the unpopular Maduro.

Riots in 2014 left 43 people dead.