LASER Airlines (legally and officially ''Línea Aérea de Servicio Ejecutivo Regional, C.A.'') is an

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

based in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in t ...

. It operates scheduled and passenger charter services within Venezuela, the Caribbean, and South America. Its main hub is Simón Bolívar International Airport.

History

The airline was established in 1993 and started operations in 1994. At the beginning, the company had one

Douglas DC-9-14 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

, and only the following year purchased a

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

, and began to expand domestic and international destinations, becoming one of Venezuela’s main airlines . After the outbreak of the Venezuelan crisis in 2014, due to the embargo sanctions imposed by the United States, some of LASER’s international routes were changed to origin and end at the Las Americas International Airport in

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

to ensure that relevant routes continue to operate. LASER Airlines began to fly to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

in an alliance with

World Atlantic Airlines Caribbean Sun Airlines Inc., trading as World Atlantic Airlines is an American airline operating on-demand and scheduled charter services. Its corporate headquarters are located in Virginia Gardens, Florida. History The airline was founded in S ...

, which has been a partner since November 2016, an alliance was established through which the Miami-Caracas flight was created on a daily basis. A second frequency was added to this frequency by partnering with Swift Air to offer greater comfort to passengers on both frequencies, it was possible to expand the baggage allowance and operate 2 classes. Both are operated with equipment of

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

s, thus dissolving the alliance with World Atlantic. Subsequently, due to the decision taken by the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

, on May 15, 2019, commercial and cargo flights to

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

were suspended indefinitely. Due to this, LASER created a hub at Las Americas International Airport, adding an additional frequency to this destination, leaving 2 daily frequencies and with the possibility of connecting to Miami, maintaining the alliance with Swift Air. On December 1, 2019, LASER was forced to cancel its Caracas-Guayaquil route due to complex migratory demands by the Government of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Ekua ...

for Venezuelans; But a few weeks later, it announced a new route to Caracas-Bogotá with a daily frequency that began operating on February 10, 2020. In 2020, LASER formed a subsidiary

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

named

RED Air RED Air S.R.L. is a low-cost leisure airline with facilities in Las Américas International Airport, and main offices in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. History It was founded in 2020 as a joint-venture between the Venezuelan airline LASER A ...

, under a joint venture with a Dominican corporation, SERVAIR.

Destinations

LASER McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 Lebeda-2

McDonnell Douglas MD-81, Laser Airlines JP7277166

, LASER operates services to the following domestic and international scheduled destinations:

Codeshare agreements

Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas S.A. is a Spanish long-haul airline based at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport. History Plus Ultra was founded in 2011 by the former director of now defunct Air Madrid, Julio Miguel Martínez Sola.

Current fleet

, LASER Airlines consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

LASER Airlines had in the past operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

*On March 17, 2014, a

McDonnell Douglas MD-82 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

(registered YV2945) flying from

Porlamar ) Pueblo de La Mar ( en, Village by the Sea) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Panoramic , image_flag = Bandera santiagomarino.jpg , image_seal = , pushpin_map =Venezuela , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivis ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

with 96 people on board, burst both nose gear tires while landing at

Arturo Michelena International Airport Arturo Michelena International Airport is an airport serving the city of Valencia in Venezuela. The airport was named after artist Arturo Michelena, who was born in Valencia. It is a hub for Turpial Airlines and a secondary hub for Avior Airl ...

and came to a stop on the runway with the tires and both nose wheels damaged, and was disabled. No injuries occurred. *On May 25, 2021, a

McDonnell Douglas MD-83 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

(registered YV3465) made an emergency landing after a failure in the left engine, the crew reported that a

bird strike A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)—is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle, usually an aircraft. The term ...

caused the failure. The aircraft landed back safely at Simón Bolívar International Airport and all 116 onboard were uninjured.

References

External links

Official website
{{Airlines of Venezuela Airlines of Venezuela Airlines established in 1993 Venezuelan brands Venezuelan companies established in 1993