Servivensa S.A. (legally ''Servicios Avensa S.A.'') was a
low-cost airline based in
Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
that operated scheduled domestic and international flights.
History
Servivensa was established by
Avensa in 1989 to counteract the unionized workforce demands of Avensa's employees. By the mid-1990's it had grown to become larger than its parent company, and Servivensa crews of contract workers began operating Avensa aircraft. However, Venezuela's macroeconomic problems, especially its currency exchange restrictions, caused the airline to have trouble procuring spare parts and led to the widespread grounding of its aircraft.
For a short time in 1999, the airline had an alliance with
Aeroperú that operated codeshare flights between Caracas and Lima.
By 2001, Servivensa and Avensa were close to bankruptcy and were being sued by BP for over $1 million in unpaid fuel bills. Servivensa operations were officially ceased on May 1, 2003, when its parent company,
Avensa announced that it was grounding its aircraft due to a drop in demand of air traffic.
Destinations
*
**
Willemstad
Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...
(
Curaçao International Airport)
*
**
San José (
Juan Santamaría International Airport)
*
**
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...
(
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport () is an international airport serving the area of Barranquilla, the capital city of the Atlántico department in Colombia. The airport is located in the suburban municipality of Soledad. It owes its ...
)
**
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
(
El Dorado International Airport)
*
**
Quito
Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
(
Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport)
*
**
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
(
Mexico City International Airport
Mexico City International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the primary international airport serving Greater Mexico City. It is the List of the busiest airports in Me ...
)
*
**
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
(
Jorge Chávez International Airport)
*
**
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
(
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
)
**
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
(
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...
)
*
**
Canaima (
Canaima Airport
Canaima Airport (; ) is an airport in Canaima, Venezuela, Canaima, a town in Canaima National Park in the state of Bolívar (state), Bolívar in Venezuela. The airport and town are next to the Carrao Rapids on the Carrao River, and downstream of ...
)
**
Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
(
Simón Bolívar International Airport) Hub
**
Ciudad Bolívar
Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...
(
Tomás de Heres Airport)
**
Ciudad Guayana
Ciudad Guayana () (English: Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...
(
Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport)
**
El Vigía (
Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo Airport)
**
Maturín (
José Tadeo Monagas International Airport)
**
Maracaibo
Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...
(
La Chinita International Airport
La Chinita International Airport is an international airport serving Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia State, Venezuela. It is located southwest of Maracaibo proper in the municipality of San Francisco Municipality, Zulia, San Francisco. La Chini ...
)
**
Mérida (
Alberto Carnevalli Airport)
**
Porlamar (
Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport)
**
Santa Elena de Uairén (
Santa Elena de Uairén Airport)
**
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
(
Arturo Michelena International Airport)
Fleet
Servivensa operated the following aircraft:
*4
Beechcraft 90
*3
Boeing 727-100
*7
Boeing 727-200
*2
Boeing 737-200
*1
Boeing 757-200
*2
Douglas DC-3C
*5
Douglas C-47A Skytrain
*8
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
*3
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
*3
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51
Accidents and incidents
*On December 17, 1994,
Douglas C-47A (registered YV-761-C) crashed on approach to
Cerro Aicha Airport, killing all nine people on board.
*On October 2, 1998,
Douglas DC-3C (registered YV-611C) crashed on approach to
Canaima Airport
Canaima Airport (; ) is an airport in Canaima, Venezuela, Canaima, a town in Canaima National Park in the state of Bolívar (state), Bolívar in Venezuela. The airport and town are next to the Carrao Rapids on the Carrao River, and downstream of ...
. The aircraft had been on a local sightseeing flight to view the
Angel Falls. One of the 25 people on board was killed.
*In 2000, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted 18 individuals for a drug trafficking conspiracy centered around using Servivensa flight attendants to smuggle heroin into the United States, following a year-long investigation known as Operation Aeromoza.
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of Venezuela
References
External links
Servivensa Fleet
Avensa
Defunct airlines of Venezuela
Airlines established in 1990
Airlines disestablished in 2003
2003 disestablishments in Venezuela
Venezuelan companies established in 1990
Defunct low-cost airlines
{{Venezuela-airline-stub