Santa Barbara Airlines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Santa_Barbara_Airlines".

Santa Barbara Airlines
IATA S3	ICAO BBR	Callsign Santa Barbara
Founded		November 1, 1995
Hubs		Simón Bolívar International Airport
Focus cities		La Chinita International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Alturas
Fleet size		9
Destinations		12
Parent company		Santa Barbara Airlines, C.A.
Company slogan		Con calidez venezolana (with Venezuelan warmth)
Headquarters		Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Key people		Francisco Gonzalez, President Santa Barbara Airlines
Website: Santa Barbara Airlines

Santa Barbara Airlines¹ is an airline based in Caracas, Venezuela. It operates scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base is Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS), Maiquetía, with a hub at La Chinita International Airport (MAR), Maracaibo.

History

The airline was established on November 1, 1995 and started operations on March 1, 1996. It wholly owned Islas Airways until September 2006, when it was sold to the Canary Islands entrepreneurs group Grupo SOAC. The airline has confirmed the cancellation of all its Boeing 767-300ER long haul flights in an attempt to stem losses and to "concentrate on the regional market" (as of October 2008).

Destinations

Further information: Santa Barbara Airlines destinations

Fleet

Santa Barbara Airlines Boeing 767-300

The Santa Barbara Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 24 September 2008):

The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft replaced the two older McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. Santa Barbara Airlines' executives promptly announced the timely retirement of the venerable DC-10's following several months plagued by maintenance issues, a move that had been speculated and expected for several months. They also announced the decision to wet-lease 2 Boeing 767 aircraft the same week, in mid-October 2005. The 767-300ER's began service on November 2, 2005. Recently, Santa Bárbara announced they'd be incorporating Boeing 737-300's to their fleet for mid and short-range operations, however, the number exact number of aircraft to be incorporated, or when said incorporations will take place, is still unknown.

Frequent flyer program

Alturas is the frequent flyer program for Santa Bárbara Airlines, which was launched in 2005 following the expansion of the airline when it launched flights to Europe.

Accidents

Main article: Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518

On February 21, 2008 an ATR 42 propeller aircraft, registered as YV1449, covering Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 from Mérida to Caracas, went missing shortly after taking off. Forty-two passengers and a crew of four, including two pilots and two flight attendants, were reportedly on board at the time of the accident. On Friday, February 22, search and rescue teams confirmed they had located the remains of the aircraft in a mountain range approximately 10 kilometers North-East of Mérida at an altitude of 12,000 feet (4,000m).

Regional civil defense chief, Gerardo Rojas, was quoted as saying that the chances of anyone surviving the crash were "minimal". Initial reports indicate that the aircraft made a controlled descent into terrain. However, this proved to be false. The airplane crashed in the "Cara del Indio" mountains in the Venezuelan state of Mérida and all 48 people on board were killed in the accident.

The investigation concluded that the accident was caused by human negligence on behalf of the pilot of the plane.

[1]

See also

• Aero Ejecutivos
• Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
• Aserca Airlines
• Avensa
• Avior Airlines
• Conviasa
• LAI - Linea Aerea IAACA
• LASER Airlines
• Linea Turistica Aerotuy
• Rutaca
• Servivensa
• Sol America
• Sundance Air Venezuela
• Transcarga
• Venezolana
• Vensecar Internacional
• Viasa

References

External links

• Santa Barbara Airlines (English)
• Santa Barbara Airlines (Spanish)
• Santa Barbara Airlines Press Releases (Spanish)
• Santa Barbara Airlines Fleet
• Santa Barbara Airlines in airliners.net