Conviasa
Conviasa is a Venezuelan airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, near Caracas. It is the flag carrier and largest airline of Venezuela, operating services to domestic destinations and to destinations in the Caribbean and South America.
History
Early years
In January 1997, Venezuela's former flag carrier, Viasa, ceased operations after 37 years of service due to prolonged financial problems. In May 2001, the idea to create a new flag carrier for Venezuela was proposed, but in December 2002, the project was put on hold until 1 October 2003. On 30 March 2004, then President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, signed a decree that formally established the airline. This decree was published in the nation's official gazette the next day.On 28 November 2004, Conviasa's inaugural flight was made with a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 aircraft flying from the airport in Charallave to the Santiago Mariño International Airport, on Margarita Island. On 10 December 2004, Conviasa formally began its national and international operations. Conviasa was originally run by the now defunct Ministry of Production and Commerce, but it has since been taken over by the Ministry of Infrastructure.
On 17 April 2006, José David Cabello Rondon replaced Wilmer Castro Sotelo as head of Conviasa. On 30 June 2006, Jose David Cabello Rondon replaced Ramon Alonzo Carrizalez Rengifo as the Minister of Infrastructure and on 18 July 2006, Franklin Fernandez Martinez became president of Conviasa.
Development since 2010
Following the Flight 2350 crash, on September 17, 2010, the government of Venezuela grounded all Conviasa flights so that it could perform a technical review of the airline's fleet. The airline said that the temporary suspension would remain in effect until October 1, 2010. Flights were then re-instated.Decree No. 7838 of the Official Gazette No. 39,558 published on Wednesday, provides for the appointment of Colonel citizen Jesús Rafael Viñas García, President of the Venezuelan Consortium Trading Company Aircraft Industries and Air Services SA under the Ministry of Popular Power for Transportation and Communications.
On 3 April 2012, Conviasa has been banned from flying to countries in the European Union because of safety concerns. It said that Conviasa failed to show it had taken adequate steps to prevent future accidents, but had this restriction lifted on 10 July 2013.
Conviasa is under the authority of the Ministry of Aquatic and Air Transport. The airline is owned by the Venezuelan government and the regional government of Nueva Esparta. Conviasa has its headquarters on the grounds of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, near Caracas. Originally Conviasa had its headquarters on Margarita Island. At one time Conviasa had its headquarters in the East Tower of Parque Central in Caracas.
In August 2016, it has been reported that over 80 percent of Conviasa pilots quit their jobs due to low and outstanding payments and the airline had to reduce operations down to around 16 flights per day subsequently. Additionally, several of the company's aircraft have been stored unused since several months.
On 5 May 2017, Conviasa was forced to suspend all international operations due to a lack of foreign currency to pay for international aircraft insurance. Also in May 2017, Wamos Air terminated its contract with Conviasa on short notice. Wamos Air operated a single Boeing 747-400 for Conviasa between Caracas and Madrid. At autumn 2019 Conviasa started again many early terminated international routes back for the Conviasas network.
On 7 February 2020 the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control added Conviasa and its fleet of 40 aircraft to the Specially Designated Nationals list. In practice this makes it extremely unlikely that Conviasa will be able to source replacement parts for its fleet of airworthy and grounded B737 aircraft. Additionally, US Nationals are prohibited from flying on Conviasa's domestic and international flights. Finally, to the extent that other countries abide by OFAC policy, those countries will refuse to sell Conviasa replacement parts for Embraer and Airbus aircraft, prohibit its nationals from flying Conviasa, and will cancel Conviasa-serviced routes to their respective countries.
Destinations
, Conviasa serves the following scheduled destinations:| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
| Aruba | Oranjestad | Queen Beatrix International Airport | ||
| Bolivia | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | Viru Viru International Airport | ||
| Brazil | Manaus | Eduardo Gomes International Airport | ||
| Cuba | Havana | José Martí International Airport | ||
| Dominican Republic | Santo Domingo | Las Americas International Airport | ||
| Ecuador | Guayaquil | José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport | ||
| Ecuador | Quito | Mariscal Sucre International Airport | ||
| Mexico | Cancún | Cancún International Airport | ||
| Mexico | Toluca | Toluca International Airport | ||
| Nicaragua | Managua | Aeropuerto Internacional Augusto C. Sandino | ||
| Panama | Panama City | Tocumen International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Barcelona | General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Barinas | Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Barquisimeto | Jacinto Lara International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Caracas | Simón Bolívar International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Ciudad Guayana | Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Cumaná | Antonio José de Sucre Airport | ||
| Venezuela | El Vigía | Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Gran Roque | Los Roques Airport | ||
| Venezuela | La Fría | Francisco García de Hevia Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Las Piedras | Josefa Camejo International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Maracaibo | La Chinita International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Maturín | José Tadeo Monagas International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Porlamar | Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Puerto Ayacucho | Cacique Aramare Airport | ||
| Venezuela | San Fernando de Apure | Las Flecheras Airport | ||
| Venezuela | San Tomé | Don Edmundo Barrios Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Santo Domingo | Mayor Buenaventura Vivas Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Tucupita | San Rafael Airport | ||
| Venezuela | Valencia | Arturo Michelena International Airport |
Fleet
Current Fleet
The Conviasa fleet includes the following aircraft :| Aircraft | Active | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
| Airbus A319-100 | 1 | — | — | Operated for Venezuelan Government |
| Airbus A340-200 | 1 | — | 239 | Named Simón Bolívar El Libertador. Last A340-200 passenger commercial operator. |
| Airbus A340-300 | 1 | — | — | |
| Boeing 737-200 | 1 | — | 100 | |
| Embraer 190 | 16 | — | 104 | |
| Total | 20 | – |
Former Fleet
- Airbus A330-200
- Airbus A330-300
- Airbus A340-300
- ATR 42
- ATR 72
- Boeing 737-300
- Boeing 747-400
- Boeing 767-300ER
- Bombardier CRJ-700
- Cessna 208 Caravan
- De Havilland Canada Dash 7
Incidents and accidents
- On 15 December 2005, Conviasa flight 2600, a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 with 36 passengers and 4 crew members on board, was forced to make a belly landing at Porlamar's airport when the landing gear failed to deploy. After circling Porlamar for an hour and a half to burn off fuel, the aircraft touched down without any injuries.
- On 30 August 2008, a Boeing 737-200 took off from Caracas's Maiquetia airport, Venezuela, and was bound to Latacunga, Ecuador, 80 kilometers south of Quito. Three crew members were on board. The plane crashed in mountainous area in Ecuador's Andes, killing all the three people on board. The Boeing 737 had been stored for a while at Caracas. It was being ferried to Latacunga, reportedly underway to a new owner.
- On 13 September 2010, Flight 2350, an ATR 42-300, with 47 passengers and 4 crew on board, crashed shortly before landing. It was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Del Caribe "Santiago Mariño" International Airport, Porlamar, Isla Margarita to Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport, Ciudad Guayana. There were 34 survivors and 17 fatalities.