RUTACA Airlines (legally ''Rutas Aéreas 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 wh ...

headquartered in

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about in width, is the sit ...

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 th ...

with its home base at

Tomás de Heres Airport Tomás de Heres Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Nacional Tomas de Heres, ) is an airport serving Ciudad Bolívar, the capital of the Bolívar state of Venezuela. The airport is named in honor of Tomás de Heres, a hero of Latin American independence ...

and a hub at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas.

History

RUTACA Airlines was founded by Evard Mares Bianchi on February 6, 1974, and began operating non-scheduled cargo and passenger flights with small aircraft. It currently operates scheduled and charter services throughout the country. The airline's operations suffered gravely during the

2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis On 29 March 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela took over legislative powers of the National Assembly. The Tribunal, mainly supporters of President Nicolás Maduro, also restricted the immunity granted to the Assembly's m ...

, including suspending flights between key routes.

Destinations

RUTACA Embraer EMB-110P1A Bandeirante Maharajh-1

, RUTACA Airlines serves the following destinations:

Fleet

Current fleet

Rutaca Boeing 737-200 in new livery at Porlamar Airport

The RUTACA Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of December 2022):

Former fleet

RUTACA Airlines formerly operated the following aircraft: *6 Antonov An-2TP *1

Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November ...

*1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander *17 Cessna 206 *1

Cessna 207 The Cessna 205, 206, and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane) are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

*4 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan *1 Convair CV-340 *1 Convair CV-440 *8

Douglas C-47A Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

Douglas DC-3C The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

Accidents and incidents

*On June 5, 1987, a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (registration YV-230C) was disarmed in flight over the area of Upata, Bolívar state. All 10 occupants on board died. *On January 25, 2001, RUTACA Airlines Flight 225, a Douglas DC-3 (registered YV-244C) crashed shortly after taking off from

, killing all 20 passengers and four crew members. *On October 16, 2008, a

Boeing 737-200 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 ...

(registered YV162T) landed on runway 28R at Simón Bolívar International Airport following a domestic flight from

Puerto Ordaz Ciudad Guayana () (in English Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary, the Caroní river. The Caroni cros ...

. After touchdown, the airplane swerved to the left. The nose came to rest on the runway embankment. *On February 15, 2009, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (registered YV1950) overran the runway at Guasdualito Airport following a domestic flight from Las Flecheras Airport. The airplane sustained damage to the propeller and underside of the fuselage. *On July 27, 2010, a

(registered YV169T) made an emergency landing at Ciudad Guayana international airport following a domestic flight from Ciudad Bolivar after problems in engine number one.

References

External links

Official website
Airlines of Venezuela Airlines established in 1974 Ciudad Bolívar Venezuelan companies established in 1974 {{Venezuela-airline-stub