BUENOS AIRES, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Argentina on Wednesday lamented Venezuela's decision to bar Argentine carriers from using its airspace, highlighting the ensuing higher costs for airlines and passengers.

The comment came a day after Venezuela announced the decision to ban Argentine aircraft until it is compensated for the impounding of a plane in Buenos Aires that belonged to Venezuelan cargo airline Emtrasur.

"Venezuela exercises full sovereignty over its airspace and reiterates that no aircraft, coming from or heading to Argentina, will be able to fly over our territory, until our company is duly compensated for the damages caused, after the illegal actions carried out, only to please their guardians from the north," said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on X, formerly Twitter.

"This ban ... has a very high economic cost for each of the flights for which it is more efficient to pass through the Venezuelan route and cross Venezuelan airspace," Manuel Adorni, the spokesperson for the Argentine Presidency, said at a press conference.

Relations between Caracas and Buenos Aires have soured since Argentine President Javier Milei took office and subsequently allowed the United States to seize the Emtrasur Boeing 747, which Venezuela claims was then looted on U.S. soil.

Venezuela maintains that Argentina violated the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) by allowing the aircraft to take off to the United States.

Argentina has said it will take "diplomatic steps" to address the ban, including potentially filing a complaint with the ICAO. Enditem

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