RUTACA Airlines (legally Rutas Aéreas C.A.) is an airline headquartered in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela with its home base at Tomás de Heres Airport and a hub at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas.

History

RUTACA Airlines was founded by Evard Mares Bianchi on March 26, 1974, and began operating non-scheduled cargo and passenger flights with small aircraft. It currently operates scheduled and charter services throughout the country.

The airline's operations suffered gravely during the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis, including suspending flights between key routes.

Destinations

thumb|former logo from 2014

, RUTACA Airlines serves the following destinations:

{|class="sortable wikitable"

!Country

!City

!Airport

!Notes

!class="unsortable"|Refs

|-

| rowspan="2" |Brasil

|Boa Vista

|Boa Vista International Airport

| align="center" |

|

|-

|Manaus

|Eduardo Gomes International Airport

| align="center" |

|

|-

|Curaçao||Willemstad||Curaçao International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Panama||Panama City||Tocumen International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Trinidad and Tobago||Port of Spain||Piarco International Airport|| ||

|-

|rowspan=13|Venezuela||Barcelona||General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Barquisimeto||Jacinto Lara International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Caracas||Simón Bolívar International Airport||||

|-

|Coro||José Leonardo Chirino Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Ciudad Bolívar||Tomás de Heres Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Cumaná||Antonio José de Sucre Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Maracaibo||La Chinita International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Maturín||José Tadeo Monagas International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Porlamar||Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Puerto Ordaz||Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|San Antonio del Táchira||Juan Vicente Gómez International Airport||align=center| ||

|-

|Santo Domingo||Mayor Buenaventura Vivas Airport||align=center| || ||align=center| ||

|-

|Valencia||Arturo Michelena International Airport||||align=center| ||

|}

Fleet

Current

thumb|A RUTACA [[Boeing 737-300 at Arturo Michelena International Airport in 2022]]

The RUTACA Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of February 2026):

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center"

|+ RUTACA Airlines fleet

|-

!rowspan=2|Aircraft

!rowspan=2|In <br> service

!rowspan=2|Orders

!colspan=3|Passengers

!rowspan=2|Notes

|-

!<abbr title=Business>C</abbr>

!<abbr title=Economy>Y</abbr>

!Total

|-

|rowspan=2|Boeing 737-300

|rowspan=2|3

|rowspan=2|&mdash;

|12

|112

|124

|

|-

|&ndash;

|144

|144

|

|-

|McDonnell Douglas MD-82

|2

|&mdash;

|&ndash;

|164

|164

|

|-

|McDonnell Douglas MD-83

|2

|&mdash;

|&ndash;

|166

|166

|

|-

|McDonnell Douglas MD-88

|1

|&mdash;

|&ndash;

|166

|166

|

|-

!Total

!8

!&mdash;

!colspan=6|

|}

Former

thumb|A former RUTACA [[Embraer EMB 110 at Piarco International Airport in 2003]]

RUTACA Airlines formerly operated the following aircraft:

  • 6 Antonov An-2TP
  • 1 Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor
  • 9 Boeing 737-200
  • 1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
  • 17 Cessna 206
  • 1 Cessna 207
  • 4 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
  • 1 Convair CV-340
  • 1 Convair CV-440
  • 8 Douglas C-47A Skytrain
  • 1 Douglas DC-3C
  • 6 Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante

Accidents and incidents

  • On June 5, 1987, a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (registration YV-230C) was disarmed in flight over the area of Upata, Bolívar state. All 10 occupants on board died.
  • On January 25, 2001, RUTACA Airlines Flight 225, a Douglas DC-3 (registered YV-244C) crashed shortly after taking off from Ciudad Bolívar, killing all 20 passengers and four crew members.
  • On October 16, 2008, a Boeing 737-200 (registered YV162T) landed on runway 28R at Simón Bolívar International Airport following a domestic flight from Puerto Ordaz. After touchdown, the airplane swerved to the left. The nose came to rest on the runway embankment.
  • On February 15, 2009, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (registered YV1950) overran the runway at Guasdualito Airport following a domestic flight from Las Flecheras Airport. The airplane sustained damage to the propeller and the underside of the fuselage.
  • On July 27, 2010, a Boeing 737-200 (registered YV169T) made an emergency landing at Ciudad Guayana international airport following a domestic flight from Ciudad Bolivar after problems in engine number one.

See also

  • List of airlines of Venezuela

References

  • Official website