- Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
Infobox Airline
airline = Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
logo_size =
fleet_size = 6
destinations = 24
IATA = VH
ICAO = LAV
callsign = AEROPOSTAL
parent =Corporación Alas de Venezuela
company_slogan = "Tu aerolínea" (Your airline)
founded =July 3 ,1929
headquarters =Maiquetía , Vargas,Venezuela
key_people =Nelson Ramiz , President & Owner Corporacion Alas de Venezuela
hubs = Simón Bolívar Int'l Airport
focus_cities = La Chinita Int'l Airport
Santiago Mariño Int'l Airport
Arturo Michelena Int'l Airport
frequent_flyer = AeroPass
lounge =
alliance =
website = http://www.aeropostal.com/Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela, normally referred to as just "Aeropostal", is an
airline based inCaracas ,Venezuela . It operates domestic services and international services in theCaribbean area and toColombia ,Peru and the USA. Its main base isSimón Bolívar International Airport , Caracascite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work=Flight International | page= 49-50 | date= 2007-03-27] .History
Early history
Venezuela was one of the first South American nations to resort to commercial aviation as an effective means of transportation. In 1929, the French company Aeropostale (known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère until 1927), then under the leadership of its owner Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont, arrived in Venezuela. Aeropostale viewed Venezuela as the ideal bridge to link South America with the Caribbean islands of
Guadeloupe andMartinique . This idea materialized onJuly 3 ,1929 . ThreeLatécoère 28 's carried out the first flights of the new airline, although someLatécoère 26 's were also used in those earlier routes. OnDecember 31 ,1933 , the Venezuelan government purchased the airline after the French government inexplicably decided to stop subsidizing it.Life as a government owned company
Despite its new Venezuelan ownership, the airline continued to be run by French personnel under the direction of Robert Guerin until
January 1 ,1935 , when its name was changed to Línea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV) and operations shifted to Venezuelan hands under the management of commander Francisco Leonardi. At the start, the company was capitalized at 1,600,000 bolívares, but it wasn't untilMay 21 ,1937 , that the government of Venezuela secured full ownership of the airline. It did so through an injection of capital and by replacing the Latécoère 28's with severalFairchild 71's. The expansion program was further reinforced with the purchase of sixLockheed Model 10 Electra s. In 1939, LAV's headquarters were moved fromMaracay toMaiquetía because of its proximity to Caracas. That same year,Douglas DC-3 s were introduced in order to transport larger cargo loads and passengers. By 1942 the fleet had grown considerably. LAV's first international flights began in July 1945, serving the city of Boa Vista in northernBrazil . It wasn't really considered an international destination as it was close to Venezuela's border. LAV's second international route was toAruba in January 1946. This connected toKLM 's international route structure.After the war ended, LAV re-equipped with newer aircraft, replacing it's Electra andLockheed Lodestar fleet which was decimated by many accidents over the previous five years. Douglas DC-3s andDouglas DC-4 s were introduced along withMartin 2-0-2 aircraft. In 1947, the airline introducedLockheed Constellation s to fly a new direct international route from Caracas to New York's Idlewild Airport. This new service started onMarch 21 ,1947 .In 1951, LAV began service to
Lima ,Peru andBogotá ,Colombia . The Bogotá route was acquired by LAV after they purchased 88% of TACA de Venezuela. Previously, TACA de Venezuela had a joint route agreement with the Colombian airline, LANSA. Until TACA de Venezuela was completely absorbed by LAV in 1958, the route to Bogotá was flown using TACA aircraft in TACA livery. During the 1950s, LAV opened atransatlantic service and began flying toPanama (in 1953). The Constellation fleet was upgraded to L-1049G Super Constellations. An order for the first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, was placed, but with the Comet crashes of the 1950s, the airline never got their Comet jets. OnMarch 24 ,1956 , LAV introduced its first turboprop, a Vickers Viscount 701 which was to replace the older piston engined Douglas and Martin aircraft.In the early 1960s, the Venezuelan government wanted to separate LAV's international and domestic routes, thus creating a new airline,Viasa , for international flights. A new livery was introduced for the new decade. The full airline title which had appeared on the Constellation fleet was simplified to a simple and bold AEROPOSTAL. The Constellations flew with a flying globe logo on the nose, was also simplified, now appearing on the fin as a flying bird logo, a logo that would remain with the airline. Also in the early 1960s, the 'jet-prop'Avro 748 was introduced to replace the smaller piston twins that had made up LAV's fleet since 1938.Douglas DC-8 jets were introduced in 1961 to replace the Super Constellations.During the 1970s and 1980s LAV continued to introduce new fleet types like the Douglas DC-9-32 and the Douglas DC-9-51.
Current history
In August 1994, commercial operations ceased, as part of a government effort to trim expenses. This resulted in the company being sold to the Corporacion Alas de Venezuela in 1996, a privately owned company that re-started operations on
January 7 ,1997 . Flights to theUnited States began in July 1998 and toMadrid in November 2001, although the latter have since ceased. In the late 1990s, Aeropostal introduced two US-regisiteredAirbus A320 s to fly alongside the fleet of DC-9 and McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jets.The airline was fully owned by Corporacion Alas de Venezuela and had 2,319 employees (at March 2007). As of 2008 the airline was sold to a group of entrepreneurs from the state of Carabobo, Venezuela.
At the end of 2007, Nelson Ramiz (then CEO) reduced the fleet of 22 to only 3 claiming that the currency controls imposed by the Venezuelan government prevented him from maintaining the fleet, and that fare controls kept Aeropostal from making a profit. During that period, the Venezuelan Government planned on shutting down the airline if major changes were not planned.
The INAC (The Federal Aviation Administration of Venezuela) temporarily grounded Aeropostal operations, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in the high-travel holiday season.
The airline was then sold by Nelson Ramiz to a group of investors from the state of Carabobo, Venezuela. As of March 2008 the transition to the new administration has not been completed. The transition was completed in July of 2008.
Most routes were canceled temporarily due to the restructuring. CEO Jose Mustafa announced that at the end of 2008 all previous routes will be reinstated, and more routes added to effectively compete with the other Venezuelan airlines.
Incidents and accidents
Aeropostal has had a total of 24 accidents and incidents since
April 23 ,1937 with a total of 319 fatalities. The worst single aircraft accident for Aeropostal was onJune 20 ,1956 , when 74 people were killed when aLockheed Constellation , with call signs YV-C-AMS, crashed into theAtlantic Ocean off the coast ofNew York . [http://www.baaa-acro.com/Compagnies%20L/Línea%20Aeropostal%20Venezolana.htm "Aircraft Crashes Record Office" (2006).]*On
July 29 ,1984 ,Aeropostal Flight 252 fromCaracas toCuracao , two gunmen, one Haitian and one of Dominican nationality, hijacked the plane with 82 people on board. The hijackers demanded money, weapons, and a helicopter to remove five children from the aircraft, and also threatened to blow up the plane if stormed. The plane was stormed by Venezuelan commandos of theDISIP , both hijackers were killed, and all hostages were released, ending the 3 day crisis.Fact|date=April 2007*On
March 6 ,2008 , anMD-80 (Tail Number N905TA) Aeropostal Flight VH501 fromMiami toCaracas operated byFalcon Air Express was forced to land in Valencia International Airport at 10:30pm due to a suspected hydraulic leak in the right side.Inflight magazine
"Pasajero" ("Passenger") is Aeropostal's in-flight magazine. It is published six times a year with a circulation of 20,000 copies distributed in all domestic and international Aeropostal flights. "Pasajero" is published by Playalens, Inc., a Hispanic-owned
Miami -based publishing company.Fleet
The Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela fleet consists of the following aircraft (at
3 July 2008 ):*1
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
*4McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51
*1McDonnell Douglas MD-83 In July 2008, the Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela fleet average age was 18.8 years. [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Aeropostal.htm]
References
External links
* [http://www.aeropostal.com Aeropostal official website]
* [http://www.pasajeromagazine.com PASAJERO, La Revista Oficial de Aeropostal]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=VH&al_op=1 Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Fleet]
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