Venezolana - Rutas Aéreas de Venezuela RAV S.A. (also known as ''Venezolana de Aviación'') is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

headquartered in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

History

The airline was founded by Venezuelan investors in 2001 as ''RAVSA - Rutas Aéreas de Venezuela S.A.''. The airline operated charter flights using

Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

s. In 2007, 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 The Boeing 737 is an American 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 retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

, MD-80s and

British Aerospace Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer Brasili ...

s to start more scheduled services to other destinations inside and outside of Venezuela. During the 2000s, the airline experienced a rapid expansion in the international and domestic markets, especially with the regional route between the cities of

and

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...

, which is one of the most popular routes in Venezuela. However, Venezolana had turmoil with its reputation in the international market between 2009 and 2011, following delays and cancellations due to mechanical problems, mismanagement in its operation procedures, and ransacking of passengers' baggage. This led to the retirement of their

Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer Brasili ...

s and eventually brought criticism from passengers, and as a response, the airline began reorganizing procedures, eventually decreasing the passenger complaints rate. On February 27, 2012, the Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation indefinitely suspended Venezolana's

air operator certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...

due to unpaid insurance premiums for their fleet, causing disruptions in its 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 The National Center for Foreign Commerce (, CENCOEX), formerly the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (Comisión de Administración de Divisas CADIVI), is the Government of Venezuela, Venezuelan government body which administe ...

currency-exchange administration making delayed payments to domestic and international airlines, Venezolana had problems with its flights due to a lack of available aircraft since all but one of its aircraft were unairworthy due to the inability to buy replacement parts. Consequently, the

National Institute of Civil Aviation The National Institute of Civil Aviation (spanish: Instituto Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil, INAC) is a Venezuelan civil aviation agency. Its headquarters were in the ''Torre Británica'' in Caracas, Miranda, and it had offices in the ''Edificio ...

decided to ground the airline again, causing disruptions in domestic and international operations indefinitely. On March 26, 2014, the airline was bought by a group of private investors and resumed operations.

Destinations

Venezolana flies to the following cities ():

Fleet

Current

, the Venezolana fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former

Venezolana had in the past operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

*On November 18, 2004, a

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

(registered YV-1083C) was on a passenger flight when it crashed during a runway excursion at Simón Bolívar International Airport which the runway was wet due to rain. Of the 21 occupants on board, only 2 people were killed. The aircraft was written off and scrapped. *On April 27, 2009, a

(registered YV268T) suffered hydraulic problems causing the crew to burn off fuel in a holding pattern and landed back at

La Chinita International Airport La Chinita International Airport is an international airport serving Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia State, Venezuela. It is located southwest of Maracaibo proper in the municipality of San Francisco Municipality, Zulia, San Francisco. La Chini ...

. None of the 84 occupants were injured while the aircraft was repaired and returned to service. *On May 30, 2019, a

(registered YV502T) was flying from

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

when the aircraft suffered an engine failure and a subsequent uncontained engine fire. There were no reports of injuries to any of the 80 passengers on board the plane.

References

External links

Official website
{{Airlines of Venezuela Airlines of Venezuela Airlines established in 2001 Venezuelan brands Low-cost carriers Venezuelan companies established in 2001