Línea Aérea Conviasa (legally Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos) is a Venezuelan airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, near Caracas. It is the flag carrier and largest airline of Venezuela, operating services to domestic destinations and to destinations in the Caribbean and South America. Conviasa is known to make routes from a political perspective rather than a financial standpoint.
History
In January 1997, Venezuela's former flag carrier, Viasa, ceased operations after 37 years of service due to prolonged financial problems. In May 2001, the idea to create a new flag carrier for Venezuela was proposed, but in December 2002, the project was put on hold until October 1, 2003. On March 31, 2004, then President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, signed a decree that formally established the airline. This decree was published in the nation's official gazette the next day.
On November 28, 2004, Conviasa's inaugural flight was made with a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 flying from the airport in Charallave to the Santiago Mariño International Airport, on Margarita Island. On December 10, 2004, Conviasa formally began its national and international operations. Conviasa was originally run by the now defunct Ministry of Production and Commerce, but it has since been taken over by the Ministry of Infrastructure.
In October 2007, Iran Air turned its route from Caracas to Tehran via Damascus over to Conviasa, with which it had a codeshare agreement. The flight operated on an Airbus A340-200 and primarily carried Syrian Venezuelans, Iranian businesspeople and Venezuelan officials. The cabin was usually less than half-full. One of the company's executives stated that the service mainly existed for political reasons; Iran, Syria and Venezuela maintained warm relations with one another. Some people raised concerns about the route. In 2008, the Italian newspaper La Stampa said Iran was using the flight to transport missile parts to Syria, enabling it to evade United Nations sanctions. The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, described the report as American propaganda. Additionally, the United States, which deemed Iran and Syria state sponsors of terrorism, suspected the immigration and customs checks that passengers underwent were lax. The Venezuelan government responded that Conviasa was running an ordinary commercial flight and that travellers were subject to standard controls. The carrier had stopped flying to Tehran by 2010.
Following the crash of Flight 2350 on September 17, 2010, the government of Venezuela grounded all Conviasa flights so that it could perform a technical review of the airline's fleet. The airline said that the temporary suspension would remain in effect until October 1, 2010. Flights were then re-instated.
In August 2012, the carrier suspended service to Damascus. On April 3, 2012, Conviasa was banned from flying to countries in the European Union because of safety concerns. It said that Conviasa failed to show it had taken adequate steps to prevent future accidents, but had this restriction lifted on July 10, 2013.
In September 2012, Conviasa took delivery of their first Embraer 190. Twenty aircraft were ordered, but only received 15, and one Embraer Lineage 1000.
Conviasa is under the authority of the Ministry of Aquatic and Air Transport. The airline is owned by the Venezuelan government (80%) and the regional government of Nueva Esparta (20%). Conviasa has its headquarters on the grounds of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, near Caracas. Originally Conviasa had its headquarters on Margarita Island. At one time Conviasa had its headquarters in the East Tower of Parque Central in Caracas.
In August 2016, it has been reported that over 80 percent of Conviasa pilots quit their jobs due to low and outstanding payments and the airline had to reduce operations down to around 16 flights per day subsequently. Additionally, several of the company's aircraft have been stored unused since several months.
On May 5, 2017, Conviasa was forced to suspend all international operations due to a lack of foreign currency to pay for international aircraft insurance. Also in May 2017, Wamos Air terminated its contract with Conviasa on short notice. Wamos Air operated a single Boeing 747-400 for Conviasa between Caracas and Madrid. In autumn 2019, Conviasa started again many early terminated international routes back for its network.