Viasa

Start

Viasa Airlines was formed with almost equal participation of the Venezuelan government and private business - 51% of the capital belonged to the state-owned airline Aeropostal (Línea Aeropostal Venezolana) , the remaining 49% - to private investors and Avensa , which Pan American World Airways in turn later co-owned. The board of directors of the company was formed only from business representatives.

In November 1960, Viasa placed orders for two Convair 880-22M aircraft and entered into an agreement with the Dutch airline KLM to lease a Douglas DC-8 airliner, on which it began regular flights to Europe from April 1, 1961. Partnerships between the companies lasted for 24 years.

Development

Viasa was the only Latin American airline to operate with only jet aircraft since its inception. Since April 1961, flights were made to Lisbon , Madrid , Paris , Rome , Milan , Amsterdam , London and the Azores , and with the arrival of two Convair 880-22M aircraft, routes opened to New York , the Dominican Republic , Panama , New Orleans , Maracaibo , Aruba , Curacao , Miami , Houston , Bogotá and Lima .

In 1963, Viasa subleased the third Convair, which opened destinations in Mexico City and Montego Bay . In 1965, the airline’s fleet was replenished with the first Douglas DC-8-53 aircraft and a year later with a second airliner of the same type.

In 1967, Viasa began flying Douglas DC-9-15 aircraft leased from Avensa on the routes between San Jose ( Costa Rica ), Panama , Colombia , Maracaibo and Caracas .

In 1971, the airline signed another agreement with KLM on the operational leasing of the Boeing 747-200 with the transfer of the aircraft in April 1972. The liner was given the name of the largest Venezuelan Orinoco river, the aircraft begins to be used on long-haul routes to Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam and, from the summer of 1973, to Rome, Milan, Maracaibo, Panama and Salvador .

Crisis

Until 1975, Viasa showed annual profitability in its reports, starting from the moment the airline was formed, and was an exemplary model for managing the airline business. However, in the fiscal year from October 1975 to September 1976, a net loss was recorded due to a sharp increase in the world cost of fuel and local problems with its own union.

For the first time, the government of the country intervened in Viasa by fully nationalizing the airline. At first, there were no changes for the worse in the air carrier’s work - the state compensated all the expenses of Viasa due to its high oil export revenues.

The fall in world energy prices has created a sharp decline in the country's economy. President Perez, who came to power again (after Jaime Lusinci ), in accordance with the new economic program and the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund, decided to privatize Viasa . The essence of privatization was the transfer of 60% of the airline’s shares to private investors, 20% to the labor collective, and the remainder plus preferred shares went to the Venezuelan government. The main bidders for a 60% stake were Iberia and KLM .

The results and the course of the bidding, as a result of which Iberia was declared the winner, still contain conflicting information, including the question of the advisability of selling a controlling stake in one state-owned company to another state-owned (and moreover, foreign) company. Having gained control of Viasa in August 1991, Iberia faced similar problems in its own business management model (and, ultimately, was also privatized in 2001).

One way or another, from August 1991, Viasa began to lose ground in the international airline market. Two Airbus A300 airbuses leased from German Lufthansa have been returned to the owner. The long-haul DC-10s are transferred to Iberia, and in return, smaller Boeing 727-200s are delivered, which lost competition on northern routes with United Airlines Boeing 757 , Airbus A300 American Airlines and Boeing 757 .

On January 23, 1997, Viasa airline completely ceased operations.

Currently, the Venezuelan government is trying to repeat the commercial success of Viasa with the newly created airline Conviasa , but the activities of the latter in the international transportation market of Venezuela so far have been with varying success.

In the past, Viasa was the only Latin American airline to operate air travel from the very beginning of its operations on jet planes. In 1961, the company's route network in international destinations included the Azores , Lisbon , Madrid , Paris , Rome , Milan , Amsterdam and London . Later, with the receipt of two Convair 880-22M airliners, the airline opened regular flights to New York , the Dominican Republic , Panama , New Orleans , Maracaibo , Aruba , Curacao , Miami , Houston , Bogota and Lima .

For many years, Viasa served a regular route between Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas and Luis Munoz Marina International Airport in San Juan ( Puerto Rico ). This route was among the first canceled destinations after the termination of the partnership agreement between Viasa and the Dutch airline KLM .

During its activities at different times, Viasa Airlines operated the following aircraft ^[1] :

• Airbus A300B4
• Airbus A300C4
• Boeing 747-100
• Boeing 747-200B
• Boeing 747-200C
• Boeing 747-200F
• Boeing 727-200
• Convair 880-22M-3
• Curtiss c-46
• Douglas DC-7C
• Douglas DC-7F
• Douglas DC-8-30
• Douglas DC-8-40
• Douglas DC-8-50
• Douglas DC-8-60
• Douglas DC-6B ^[2]
• Douglas DC-9-10
• Douglas DC-9-30
• Lockheed super constellation
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
• McDonnell Douglas MD-80

• Airplane pictures Viasa
• Commercial of Viasa from 1987