Servivensa S.A. (legally ''Servicios Avensa S.A.'') was a

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

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 Avensa (''Aerovías Venezolanas Sociedad Anonima'') was a Venezuelan airline that operated from its hub at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetía. At one time, it had its headquarters in the now Government-owned Torre El Chorro in ...

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 Empresa de Transporte Aéreo del Perú S.A. branded as Aeroperú, was a Peruvian airline, serving as flag carrier of Peru from 1973 to 1999. The company was headquartered in Lima, with the city's Jorge Chávez International Airport serving as it ...

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,

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 Curaçao International Airport (, ), also known as Hato International Airport (formerly Dr. Albert Plesman International Airport), is the only airport for the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean Sea. The airport is lo ...

) * ** San José (

Juan Santamaría International Airport Juan Santamaría International Airport () is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in Alajuela Province, northwest of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan ...

) * **

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 El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engat ...

) * **

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 Mariscal Sucre International Airport was the main international airport that served Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador. It was the busiest airport in Ecuador by passenger traffic, by aircraft movement and by cargo movement, and one of the busiest air ...

) * **

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 Jorge Chávez International Airport is the main international airport serving Lima, the capital of Peru. It is located in Callao, northwest of the Historic Centre of Lima, the nation's capital city, and from the Miraflores District, Lima, dis ...

) * **

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 ...

) **

( 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 Tomás de Heres Airport (, ) is an airport serving Ciudad Bolívar, the capital of the Bolívar state of Venezuela. The airport is named in honor of Tomás de Heres, a hero of Latin American independence and governor of Venezuela's former Guay ...

) **

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 Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Guayana "Manuel Carlos Piar"), is an airport in the city of Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela. Ciudad Guayana is divided into two main population centres, San Félix ...

) **

El Vigía The Alberto Adriani Municipality () is one of the 23 municipalities () that makes up the Venezuelan state of Mérida and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a popula ...

( Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo Airport) **

Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...

(

José Tadeo Monagas International Airport José Tadeo Monagas International Airport is an airport serving Maturín, the capital of the state of Monagas in Venezuela. The runway has an additional of paved overrun on its southwestern end. The Monagas VOR-DME (Ident: MUN) and non-directi ...

) **

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 Alberto Carnevalli Airport is an airport located southwest of downtown Mérida, the capital of Mérida State in Venezuela. It is named in honor of Alberto Carnevalli ( es), a Venezuelan lawyer and political activist. The airport is in the ...

) **

Porlamar Porlamar () is the most populated city, major seaport and major center in the state of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela. It is situated on the southern coast of Margarita Island, one of three islands in the Caribbean Sea off the South American mainland wh ...

(

Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport (, ) is an airport west-southwest of Porlamar, the largest city on Isla Margarita, an island in the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela. History According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the ...

) **

Santa Elena de Uairén Santa Elena de Uairén () is a small Venezuelan city (29,795 inhabitants in 2006) in the state of Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar near the border with Brazil and Guyana. It was founded by Lucas Fernández Peña in 1923. The city's name origin ...

(

Santa Elena de Uairén Airport Santa Elena de Uairén Airport () is an airport serving Santa Elena de Uairén, a city in the Venezuelan state of Bolívar. The runway is south of the city, and from the Brazilian border. The airport was under renovation in 2008 and it was r ...

) **

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 Arturo Michelena International Airport is an airport serving the city of Valencia in Venezuela. The airport was named after artist Arturo Michelena, who was born in Valencia. It is a hub for Turpial Airlines and was once a secondary hub for A ...

)

Fleet

Servivensa operated the following aircraft: *4 Beechcraft 90 *3

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden ...

*2 Douglas DC-3C *5

Douglas C-47A Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troop ...

*8 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 *3 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 *3

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...

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

. The aircraft had been on a local sightseeing flight to view the

Angel Falls Angel Falls (; Pemon: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' or ''Parakupá Vená'') is a waterfall in Venezuela. It is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of , and a plunge of . The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyán-tepui m ...

. 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.

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

History

Destinations

Fleet

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links