SBA Airlines
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| Founded | 1 November 1995 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Simón Bolívar International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | La Chinita International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Privilege | ||||||
| Fleet size | 11 | ||||||
| Destinations | 4 | ||||||
| Company slogan | Con calidez venezolana (with Venezuelan warmth) |
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| Parent company | SBA Airlines, C.A. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela | ||||||
| Key people | Francisco González, President | ||||||
| Website | sbairlines.com | ||||||
Santa Bárbara Airlines C.A, doing business as SBA Airlines and formerly as Santa Bárbara Airlines prior to 2008,[1] is an airline with its headquarters on the third floor of the Edificio Tokay in Caracas, Venezuela.[2] It operates scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base is Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS), Maiquetía (Caracas), with a hub at La Chinita International Airport (MAR), Maracaibo.
Contents
History
The airline was established on 1 November 1995 and started operations on 1 March 1996. It wholly owned Islas Airways until September 2006, when it was sold to the Canary Islands group Grupo SOAC. The airline had their first Boeing 767-300 in the new livery, a former SmartLynx Airlines airplane delivered to begin flights to Madrid on 20 June 2009.
At first it only covered airline flights to Cabimas, Mérida, El Vigía and Santa Bárbara del Zulia. The route to Alberto Carnevalli Airport in Mérida was diverted to El Vigía-Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo International Airport after the crash of Flight 518. Later, the airline took new destinations which covered the routes to Barquisimeto, Caracas, Cumaná, Las Piedras (Punto Fijo), San Antonio del Táchira and Valencia with a single overseas flight that covered the route Caracas - Oranjestad (Aruba).
Later, the airline opened international routes from Caracas to Barranquilla, Quito, Lima, Madrid, Miami, Santiago de Compostela, Tenerife and Willemstad.
Frequent flyer program
Privilege is the frequent-flyer program for SBA Airlines.
Proposed merger
SBA & Aserca Airlines have a proposed merger in place.
Destinations
SBA serve the following as of September 2014:
- Panama
- United States
- Venezuela
SBA previously also served New York and Lima in the region, and Funchal, Madrid and Tenerife in Europe.
Fleet
The SBA Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 22.9 years.[3][4]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Options | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 757-200 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 172 | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 242 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 152 | stored at CCS |
Accidents and incidents
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On 21 February 2008 an ATR 42 turboprop airliner operating Flight 518 from Mérida to Caracas, went missing shortly after taking off. Forty-three passengers and a crew of three, including two pilots and one flight attendant, were reportedly on board at the time of the accident. The remains of the aircraft were found the following day in a mountain range approximately 10 kilometers north-east of Mérida at an altitude of 12,000 feet (4,000 m). No survivors were found.
After the incident, the company started a new public relations program as well as a new marketing initiative switching the airline's name to SBA Airlines.
See also
- Aero Ejecutivos
- Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
- Aserca Airlines
- Avensa
- Avior Airlines
- Conviasa
- LAI – Línea Aérea IAACA
- LASER Airlines
- Línea Turística Aereotuy
- RUTACA Airlines
- Servivensa
- Sol América
- Sundance Air Venezuela
- Transcarga
- Venezolana
- Vensecar Internacional
- Viasa
References
- ↑ "English page." SBA Airlines
- ↑ "Oficinas." SBA Airlines. Retrieved on January 17, 2012. "Calle 3B, Edificio Tokay, Piso 3, La Urbina."
- ↑ SBA Airlines Fleet
- ↑ SBA Airlines fleet list at planespotters.net
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santa Barbara Airlines. |
