Venezolana


Venezolana is a Venezuelan low-cost airline headquartered in Maracaibo operating out of Simón Bolívar International Airport and La Chinita International Airport.

History

The airline was founded by Venezuelan investors in 2001 as RAVSA, but it was not until 2007 that the airline started up operations under its brand name Venezolana. When operations started, Venezolana began to acquire through the years a mixed fleet of used Boeing 737-200 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft in order to start further more scheduled services to other destinations inside and outside of Venezuela. During the 2000s, the airline experienced a rapid expansion around the international and domestic market, especially with the regional route between the cities of Maracaibo and Caracas, which is one of the most popular routes in Venezuela.
However, Venezolana had a turmoil with its reputation in the international market between 2009 and 2011, because of delays and cancellations due to mechanical problems, mismanagement in its operation procedures, and ransacking of passengers' baggage. This eventually brought criticism from passengers and as a response, the airline began re-organization procedures which eventually decreased the passenger complaints rate. On 27 February 2012, the Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation indefinitely suspended Venezolana's air operator certificate due to unpaid insurance premiums for the fleet, causing disruptions of the airline's domestic and international operations. However, it was reported that the airline paid the premiums and resumed operations the same day.
In January 2014, due to the Venezuelan government's CADIVI currency-exchange administration making delayed payments to domestic and international airlines, Venezolana had problems with its flights due to lack of available aircraft, since all but one of its aircraft were unairworthy due to inability to buy replacement parts. As a consequence, the National Institute of Civil Aviation decided to again ground the airline, causing disruptions on domestic and international operations indefinitely. On 26 March 2014, the airline was bought by a group of private investors and resumed operations.

Destinations

Venezolana flies to the following cities :
CountryCityAirportRef/Notes
Dominican RepublicSanto DomingoLas Américas International Airport
PanamaPanama CityTocumen International Airport
Trinidad & TobagoPort of SpainPiarco International Airport
VenezuelaCaracasSimón Bolívar International AirportHub
VenezuelaMaracaiboLa Chinita International AirportHub
VenezuelaMaturínJosé Tadeo Monagas International Airport
VenezuelaPorlamarSantiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport

Fleet

, the Venezolana fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former Fleet