Viasa
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Founded | November 1960 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | January 1997 | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Destinations | 46 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Caracas, Venezuela | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima (English: Venezuelan International Airways), or VIASA for short, was the Venezuelan flag carrier between 1960 and 1997. It was headquartered in the Torre Viasa in Caracas. Launched in 1960, it was nationalised in 1975 due to financial problems, and re-privatised in 1991, with the major stake going to Iberia. The company ceased operations in January 1997, and went into liquidation.
Viasa was envisioned by the government of Venezuela in 1959 to create a new company that could serve as the country's flag carrier and run without government intervention. It was set up in 1960 when the international routes operated by Línea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV) and Avensa were merged and taken over by the newly created carrier. The government contributed 55% of the capital, while private investors — among which were LAV and Avensa, the latter owned by Grupo Boulton and Pan American World Airways—contributed with the remainder. The board of directors came entirely from the private sector. The first president of the airline was Mr. R. van den Branden; the first chairman of the board was Mr. Oscar Augusto Machado Zuloaga, a very competent and well liked gentleman, who was instrumental in Viasa's commercial success and immediate acceptance by the market.
Viasa began as an entity in November 1960. In early 1961, the airline signed an agreement with KLM to operate a Douglas DC-8 on Viasa's behalf, aimed at starting operations to Europe in April that year; KLM maintained a nurturing relationship with Viasa for another 24 years. In the same year, Avensa transferred two Douglas DC-6Bs to the company, as well as an order for a Convair 880-22M. Viasa boosted their Convair 880 order by purchasing another one. The airline flew the type mostly on routes to North America. Also in 1961, the airline joined the International Air Transport Association, becoming its overall 89th member. In 1963, Viasa started a commercial agreement with Iberia and KLM for the operations through the mid-Atlantic. The same year, a third Convair 880 was ordered; later that year, the type was chartered to KLM for flying on the Dutch airline's Caribbean routes. Until the first DC-8-50 the company had ordered in early 1965 was delivered, long-haul services using the type were provided with wet-leased aircraft from KLM. By April 1966, the first DC-8-50 was already forming part of the company's fleet along with the three Convair 880s, while an additional DC-8-50 was on order. To complement these two DC-8-50s, the carrier ordered two Douglas DC-8-63s in early 1967. Two Convair 880s were sold to Cathay Pacific in mid-1967. Also in 1967, Viasa started up a Panamanian airline named Panameña Internacional de Aviación SA (PAISA), with KLM support; This company started operations on 3 May 1967 with two DC-9-10s leased to VIASA from Avensa, which were in turn sub-leased to PAISA. In 1968, VIASA set up a wholly owned, non-IATA member, national cargo airline named Transportes Aereos de Carga SA, more commonly known as Transcarga, which in its beginnings served Caracas, Curaçao, Maracaibo, Miami and New York.
...
Wikipedia