Pride of Venezuela: VIASA 1960-1970

Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima (VIASA) was for many years one of the most well known and well run airlines in South America. It had a close working relationship with KLM, which enabled it to grow sustainably and leverage the Dutch flag carrier's know how and equipment. The airline grew strong during the 1960s blessed with the democratic stability brought about following the collapse of the military dictatorship of Perez Jimenez in 1958.

VIASA Convair 880M YV-C-VIC Aeroclassics 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

The Venezuelan aviation scene during the 1950s was dominated by two airlines L.A.V and AVENSA. The former operated international services whilst AVENSA primarily had a domestic network. AVENSA started to operate its own international route network using a CV-440 for a route to Miami from 1954 and New Orleans from 1955. It acquired a pair of Pan Am DC-6s in June 1958 and these would form part of the initial fleet of Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima (VIASA) when it was formed on November 21, 1960. The new carrier merged the international operations of L.A.V and AVENSA with a 55:45% ratio of joint ownership and $3 million in capital.

VIASA also inherited an order for Convair 880s and in February 1961 the carrier signed an agreement with the Dutch flag carrier KLM, which would serve it well over the coming decades. KLM would act as a general agent in Europe and also provide technical support, which would go so far as the wet lease of equipment and sharing routes. The first CV-880s began to join the fleet on August 8, 1961 with three eventually taken on. From Caracas these aircraft serviced the airlines routes to Maracaibo, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Paramaribo, and Surinam with dual First/Economy Class capacity for 78.

Transatlantic services were flown using KLM DC-8s from April 1, 1961 which operated to Lisbon via Santa Maria in the Azores then onwards to Madrid, paris, London and Amsterdam. The return services stopped at Curacao, Caracas, Lima and Bogota. Unfortunately less than a month after this service began, and only 29 days after it was delivered, DC-8-53 PH-DCL was destroyed when it crashed en-route between Lisbon and Santa Maria. The aircraft plunged into the sea killing all 61 aboard and the investigation was unable to determine the cause of the crash, although there is the possibility that the pilots were decieved by instrument failure.

DC-8-54 YV-C-VID in November 1971. Photo by Christian Volpati from Wikipedia

VIASA also operated KLM's regional Caribbean services during the 1960s, prior to ALM being created and taking the routes over. For these the third CV-880 (YV-C-VIC) flew painted in KLM colours on its port side for almost three years. The route network grew with Mexico City and Madrid via Las Palmas added. In November 1965 VIASA's first owned DC-8 was delivered and this aircraft began service to New York on December 5. The second owned DC-8-54 joined in July 1966 enabling VIASA's first transatlantic services using its own metal on October 6, 1966.

This crash was particularly devastating. The DC-9-32 YV-C-AVD was operating the service from Caracas to Miami via Maracaibo but due to faulty runway temperature sensors entered the wrong performance data. The aircraft barely made it off the runway, struck power lines and plunged into the city killing all 84 aboard plus another 71 on the ground.

The Convair 880 fleet was reduced back to two in 1965 when YV-C-VIC became VR-HFX with Cathay Pacific, after the KLM lease agreement ended in November 1965. She was written off in November 1967 when she overran the runway at Hong Kong and her nosegear collapsed.

VIASA looked towards the DC-9 to replace the CV-880s on medium haul routes and borrowed  DC-9-14s from AVENSA in May 1967. An AVENSA Caravelle was also leased for some time during the late 60s. When VIASA traded in its last Convair 880-22M in November 1968 (all went to Cathay Pacific) both New Orleans and Montego were dropped. A DC-9-32 was also leased from AVENSA in February 1969 but was destroyed after less than a month in service with them when it crashed on take-off from Maracaibo.

DC-9-14 YV-C-AVR at Miami in 1971. Photo by RuthAS from Wikipedia

In happier news two years earlier VIASA had expanded its long-haul fleet with orders for a pair of DC-8-63s, at the time the largest airliner in the world. The aircraft accommodated 160 seats. The route network expanded to include Barbados, Port of Spain, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Heathrow and Beirut.

As VIASA entered into the 1970s it had a fleet of 2 DC-8-63s, 2 DC-8-54s, 1 DC-8-55F plus two DC-9s leased from AVENSA. Its relationship with KLM was as strong as ever and this would help it enter the widebody era as early as 1971. In part 2 we'll take a look at VIASA in the 1970s as Venezuela's oil boom took hold.

For part 2 see: El Grandioso: VIASA 1970-1986

References

2001. Viasa Routes. Airliners.net
2006. What Happened To Viasa? Airliners.net
PH-DCL. Aviation Safety Network
YV-C-AVD. Aviation Safety Network
Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the Jet Age: A History
VIASA. Wikipedia
VIASA. Timetableimages.com