Venezuelan commercial aviation is like traveling back in time, as aircraft from the 1990s and 2000s predominate, and in certain cases from previous decades.
Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS/SVMI), commonly referred to as Caracas International Airport, is Venezuela’s main airport, located in Maiquetía, a city on the Venezuelan coast. Caracas, the country’s capital, is surrounded by mountains, and lies about 30 kilometers from Maiquetía. It has its own airport, but it is not used for commercial flights.
Early days
Similar to the situation across the country, Venezuelan commercial aviation experienced its golden years starting in the 1960s, maintaining a certain degree of stability until the 2010s, when the first sanctions were imposed and the major airlines in the United States and Europe ceased flying.
In fact, on November 21st, 1960, Venezuela founded its main airline at the time, VIASA, which began operations in December of that year with a fleet of Convair 880-22M and Douglas DC-8 aircraft leased from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Viasa and KLM
VIASA, or Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima under its Spanish name, became the first Latin American airline to incorporate Boeing 747s into its fleet, which were also leased from KLM. The Boeing 747-206B, registration PH-BUG, arrived in the Venezuelan capital on January 1st, 1972, having been introduced by the Dutch airline in December 1971.
This aircraft, as well as the second Boeing 747-206B that joined VIASA (PH-BUD), had the VIASA livery on the right side of the fuselage and the KLM livery on the left side, as both were operated by VIASA and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Welcome, Concorde
Reflecting the growth of Venezuelan aviation and its global reputation, Venezuela was the second Latin American country to welcome the Concorde on regular flights, a milestone for the region. Through Air France, Simón Bolívar Airport began receiving Concorde flights on April 9th, 1976, mainly once a week, increasing to two weekly services during its peak period.
By the mid-1980s, Venezuela was experiencing one of its first serious economic crises, in this case due to the fall in oil prices, which led to a devaluation of its national currency and a reduction in aviation demand, resulting in the withdrawal of the Concorde from this route. However, Air France continued to fly between Paris and Caracas until 2018, mainly with Airbus A330 and Boeing 747 aircraft.
At the time of publication, because of restrictions imposed by the Venezuelan government, the country has no flights from European airlines, although some of them expect to resume service as soon as possible. Among the historic operators that ceased services quite a long time ago, are Air France, Alitalia, KLM, and Lufthansa, while Air Europa, Iberia, Plus Ultra, TAP, and Turkish hope to resume flights shortly after this restriction is lifted.
U.S. carriers in Venezuela
US airlines have played an important role in Venezuela since the early days of its aviation industry, operating flights to/from the United States, as well as stopovers on flights to southern South America.
American Airlines, Continental, Delta, Eastern, Pan Am, and United were some of the US carriers that operated in Venezuela, mainly in Caracas. US sanctions forced US airlines to stop flying to Venezuela, although many had already suspended service on their own, citing safety concerns.
Venezuelan carriers in the US
Avior and Laser were the last Venezuelan airlines to operate flights between Venezuela and the United States, by 2019. Both airlines operated mainly to Miami from Caracas, as well as Avior from Barcelona, another Venezuelan coastal city located 250 kilometers from the capital. The decision to cancel these flights was made by the FAA.
Since then, no Venezuelan airline, nor any airline from the United States or any other country has offered regular flights between the United States and Venezuela. Recently, the United States has been conducting some flights with deportees to Venezuela, using Eastern Airlines or Omni Air International aircraft.
Venezuelan aviation
Going back to the past, after the collapse of VIASA in the mid-1990s, the Venezuelan government decided to give international and domestic routes to other Venezuelan carriers, whether they were new private airlines or not, with the aim of adding operators and recovering lost market share. VIASA was an airline established as a joint venture, meaning that 49% was privately owned and 51% was state-owned. It maintained this structure until the early 1990s, when it was bought by Iberia, this privatization being one of the consequences of its downfall.
Regarding international routes, VIASA’s flights were transferred to AVENSA, which went bankrupt in 2004, and domestic routes, among the main ones, went to Aeropostal, Avior Airlines, and LASER Airlines, three carriers that continue to operate in Venezuela.
The current Venezuelan state airline, Conviasa, or under its Spanish name Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos S.A., was established on March 30th, 2004, through the signing of a decree by the Venezuelan president at the time, Hugo Chávez. It began flying on November 28th of that year with a De Havilland Canada Dash 7, covering the route from Caracas to Margarita Island, an island located in the Atlantic Ocean 320 kilometers from Simón Bolivar Airport.
Conviasa has the most modern fleet in Venezuela, with aircraft less than 15 years old, while the rest of the airlines have an average age of over 30 years, with some aircraft reaching almost 50 years old.
The Venezuelan domestic market, as well as part of the international market, is dominated by the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, in almost all its versions, as well as the Boeing 737 family, including some Boeing 737-200s and several Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 737-400s.
Fleet
| Airline | Aircraft | Reg | Age | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeropostal | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV2992 | 33 years | Active |
| Aeropostal | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV3498 | 35 years | Active |
| Albatros Airlines | Embraer 120 Brasilia | YV2776 | 36 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-232(Adv) | YV2794 | 42 years | Active |
| Avior | Boeing 737-232(Adv) | YV2823 | 42 years | Active |
| Avior | Boeing 737-401 | YV2928 | 38 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-401 | YV3011 | 37 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-401 | YV3012 | 36 years | Active |
| Avior | Boeing 737-401 | YV3158 | 37 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-4B7 | YV3243 | 35 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-48E | YV3317 | 28 years | Parked |
| Avior | Boeing 737-48E | YV3546 | 29 years | Active |
| Avior | Boeing 737-4B7 | YV3566 | 35 years | Active |
| Bluestar | Jetstream 31 | YV2942 | 41 years | Active |
| Bluestar | Jetstream 31 | YV2972 | 40 years | Active |
| Bluestar | Jetstream 31 | YV661T | 38 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Airbus A319-133(ACJ) | YV2984 | 25 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Airbus A340-211 | YV1004 | 33 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Airbus A340-211 | YV3554 | 31 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Airbus A340-313 | YV3507 | 28 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Airbus A340-642 | YV3533 | 24 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Airbus A340-642 | YV3535 | 23 years | Active |
| Conviasa | ATR 42-400 | YV1009 | 30 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2849 | 14 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2850 | 14 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2851 | 14 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2911 | 13 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2912 | 13 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2913 | 13 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2943 | 12 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2944 | 12 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2953 | 12 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2954 | 12 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2964 | 12 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2965 | 12 years | Parked |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV2966 | 14 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer Lineage 1000 (VIP) | YV3015 | 18 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV3052 | 11 years | Active |
| Conviasa | Embraer 190 | YV3071 | 11 years | Active |
| Emtrasur Cargo | Boeing 747-3B3(M) | YV3531 | - | Scrapped |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-2B7(Adv) | YV2792 | 43 years | Active |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-33A | YV630T | 32 years | Active |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-33A | YV642T | 32 years | Active |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-329 (VIP) | YV666T | 39 years | Active |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-430 | YV3537 | 34 years | Parked |
| Estelar | Boeing 737-4Y0 | YV657T | 33 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | YV1240 | 36 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | YV1243 | 35 years | Parked |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | YV480T | 34 years | Parked |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | YV653T | 31 years | Parked |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV2923 | 38 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV2945 | 38 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV3145 | 38 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV670T | 35 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | YV3445 | 39 years | Active |
| LASER | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | YV3465 | 38 years | Active |
| Rutaca | Boeing 737-3Q8 | YV3063 | 31 years | Active |
| Rutaca | Boeing 737-3H4 | YV645T | 30 years | Parked |
| Rutaca | Boeing 737-33A | YV655T | 35 years | Active |
| Rutaca | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV663T | 33 years | Active |
| Rutaca | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | YV664T | 33 years | Active |
| Rutaca | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | YV646T | 36 years | Parked |
| Rutaca | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | YV647T | 34 years | Active |
| Rutaca | McDonnell Douglas MD-88 | YV648T | 37 years | Active |
| Sasca | Jetstream 31 | YV3438 | 37 years | Active |
| Sasca | Jetstream 31 | YV3439 | 38 years | Active |
| Sasca | Jetstream 32 | YV1116 | 34 years | Active |
| Sundance Air | Jetstream 31 | YV3536 | 38 years | Active |
| Sundance Air | Jetstream 31 | YV537T | 39 years | Active |
| Sundance Air | Jetstream 31 | YV578T | 41 years | Active |
| Transmandu | Boeing 737-4Y0 | YV3542 | 33 years | Active |
| Transmandu | Jetstream 32 | YV1019 | 35 years | Active |
| Transmandu | Jetstream 32 | YV2272 | 34 years | Active |
| Transmandu | Jetstream 32 | YV2456 | 36 years | Active |
| Turpial | Boeing 737-4S3 | YV613T | 36 years | Active |
| Turpial | Boeing 737-4H6 | YV621T | 32 years | Active |
| Turpial | Boeing 737-4H6 | YV622T | 31 years | Parked |
| Venezolana | Boeing 737-2A1(Adv) | YV3471 | 48 years | Active |
| Venezolana | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | YV3499 | 40 years | Active |
| Venezolana | McDonnell Douglas MD-88 | YV649T | 36 years | Parked |
Several Conviasa aircraft, although bearing the Venezuelan airline’s livery, are operated by the Venezuelan government.
Emtrasur Cargo, a Venezuelan cargo airline associated with the Chavista regime, had a Boeing 747-300(M) in its fleet, which was detained in Argentina in June 2022 and sent to the United States in February 2024, where it was scrapped. We will talk about this aircraft, with content from our database, in another post soon.
Routes
With regard to routes, the Venezuelan domestic and international market is at almost minimal levels, with limited activity within the country and practically none internationally. Venezuela used to be connected to almost every country on the American continent, as well as several European countries, but today it only has five to seven international routes, operated mainly by Venezuelan carriers.
If it weren’t for the ban imposed by Venezuela, Estelar Latinoamérica and Laser, with aircraft leased from Spanish airlines, would operate the Caracas-Madrid route three to four times a week. Conviasa is the only airline operating between Venezuela and Europe, Caracas–St. Petersburg to be precise, doing so every 15 days, either with a stopover in Varadero or non-stop. However, Airbus A340-600s do not fly over European Union territory, as they fly across the Atlantic Ocean until they pass Norway and Finland, and enter Russia through the north of the country.
This same route is performed by Nordwind Airlines when flying between Moscow and Cuba or Venezuela, although flights to Venezuela are currently suspended.
International routes
| Country | Destination | Airline | Flight(s) | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbados | Bridgetown | Conviasa | 1 weekly | Embraer 190 |
| Brazil | São Paulo | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| China | Guangzhou via IKA | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| Colombia | Bogotá | Avior | 2 weekly | Boeing 737 |
| Bogotá | LASER | 4 weekly | MD-82 | |
| Bogotá | Wingo | 5 weekly | Boeing 737 | |
| Cuba | Havana | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| Varadero | Conviasa | 1 biweekly | Airbus A340 | |
| Iran | Tehran | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| Mexico | Cancún | Conviasa | 1 weekly | Airbus A340 |
| Mexico City | Conviasa | 1 weekly | Airbus A340 | |
| Nicaragua | Managua | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| Panama | Panama City | Copa | 11 weekly | Boeing 737 |
| Panama City | Estelar | 3 weekly | Boeing 737 | |
| Panama City | Venezolana | 2 weekly | MD-83 | |
| Russia | Moscow | Conviasa | - | Airbus A340 |
| St. Petersburg | Conviasa | 1 biweekly | Airbus A340 |
Conviasa operates more international flights, especially with its Airbus A340-200, Airbus A340-300, and Airbus A340-600 aircraft, which are not regular flights and therefore do not appear in our database.
These operations include flights to Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, and Russia, all of them from/to the Venezuelan capital, with Guangzhou, Havana, Tehran, Managua, Moscow, and São Paulo as destinations. Some Conviasa non-regular flights are operated by the Venezuelan government.
US aircraft coming back to Venezuela
On January 20th, after nearly 10 years, a cargo plane operated by a US airline landed in Venezuela.
SkyLease Cargo’s Boeing 747-428F(ER), registration N903AR, arrived at Simón Bolívar Airport from Miami that morning, marking a milestone: the return of cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela for the first time in almost a decade.
The aircraft carried supplies for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Update
January 30th, 2026:
After Donald Trump’s administration lifted restrictions on Venezuela, American Airlines announced that it is “ready to start flying between the United States and Venezuela.”
Through a press release, the airline stated that it will be the first to reestablish flights between the two countries, pending authorization and subject to security assessments.
American Airlines operated in Venezuela between 1987 and 2019, mainly in Caracas, as well as in other cities in the country, such as Maracaibo and Porlamar.
Cover photo: © Bruno Orofino – JetPhotos (Caracas Maiquetía International Airport, Venezuela)
