Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima (VIASA, 'Venezuelan International Airways JSC') was the Venezuelan flag carrier airline between 1960 and 1997. Launched in , it was nationalised in 1975 due to financial problems, and re-privatised in 1991, with the major stake going to Iberia. The company ceased operations in , and went into liquidation.
History
Early years
thumb|A Netherlands-[[Aircraft registration|registered Douglas DC-8-53 in VIASA livery. (1965)]]
thumb|A Netherlands-registered [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 at Zürich Airport in VIASA livery with additional KLM titles, in 1978. The aircraft was leased from KLM.]]
Viasa was envisioned by the government of Venezuela in 1959 to create a new company that could serve as the country's flag carrier and run without government intervention. It was set up in 1960 when the international routes operated by Línea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV) and Avensa were merged and taken over by the newly created carrier. To complement these two DC-8-50s, the carrier ordered two Douglas DC-8-63s in early 1967. Two Convair 880s were sold to Cathay Pacific in mid-1967. Also in 1967, Viasa started up a Panamanian airline named Panameña Internacional de Aviación SA (PAISA), with KLM support; This company began operations on 3 May 1967 with two DC-9-10s leased to VIASA from Avensa, which were in turn sub-leased to PAISA. In 1968, VIASA set up a wholly owned, non-IATA member, national cargo airline named Transportes Aereos de Carga SA, more commonly known as Transcarga, which in its beginnings served Caracas, Curaçao, Maracaibo, Miami and New York.
thumb|left|VIASA leased this Boeing 747-200B from KLM in 1972. The aircraft wore a mixed [[livery during the lease agreement, with the port side in KLM colours and its starboard with a VIASA decor. to this purpose the company signed another agreement with the Dutch company in 1972, this time for the lease of a Boeing 747-200B that was put on service on a weekly round-trip Caracas–Madrid–Paris flight in . Also in 1972, the route network saw the incorporation of Washington and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. by the Viasa's fleet consisted of two DC-8-63s, one DC-8-50, two DC-8-30s, and one DC-10-30, while another DC-10-30 was yet to be delivered. At a cost of , another DC-10-30 was ordered in 1976, followed by an order for three more of these aircraft in .
In 1983, Viasa took delivery of two McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Super 80s.
Iberia apparently milked the airline (some Venezuelans point at this as one of Viasa's causes of bankruptcy). While it could be argued that it was not wise to sell a government owned leasing company to another government owned leasing company, changing the old ways of Viasa was an uphill battle.
All its aircraft were placed under Iberia's ownership, the Airbuses were sent back to GPA, former Iberia 727s were used by Viasa (competing on the US routes versus American's 757s or A300-600s and United's 757s) and all supplies were purchased centrally through Madrid.
Short of liquidity, Viasa ceased operations on .
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|Cartagena||Rafael Núñez International Airport||align=center|
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|Pointe-à-Pitre||Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport||align=center|
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|Puerto Rico||San Juan||Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport||align=center|
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|Washington, D.C.||Washington Dulles International Airport||align=center|
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|Barquisimeto||Jacinto Lara International Airport||align=center|
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|Caracas||Simón Bolívar International Airport||align=center|
- Airbus A300B4
- Airbus A300C4
- Boeing 747-100 The two deadly accidents occurred with leased aircraft.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
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!Date
!Location
!Aircraft
!Tail number
!class="unsortable"|Aircraft damage
!Fatalities
!class="unsortable"|Description
!class="unsortable"|Refs
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|align=center|
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|align=center|DC-8-53
|align=center|PH-DCL
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/61
|The aircraft, leased from KLM, was due to operate the third leg of an international scheduled Rome–Madrid–Lisbon–Santa Maria–Caracas passenger service as Flight 897, when it plunged into the sea shortly after takeoff from Portela Airport, east-northeast of Fonte da Telha.
|align=center|
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|align=center|
|Amsterdam
|align=center|DC-8-53
|align=center|PH-DCH
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|
|The aircraft was destroyed by fire while undergoing maintenance at Schiphol Airport owing to an explosion in one of its engines. The aircraft was on lease from KLM.
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|align=center|
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|align=center|DC-9-32
|align=center|YV-C-AVD
|align=center|W/O
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|Leased from AVENSA, the aircraft was due to operate the second leg of an international scheduled Caracas–Maracaibo–Miami passenger service as Flight 742, when it performed a long take-off at Grano de Oro Airport, hit powerlines, and plunged into a nearby crowded neighborhood of the city. All 84 occupants of the aircraft perished in the accident, plus 71 people on the ground.
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|Buenos Aires
|align=center|DC-10-30
|align=center|YV-135C
|align=center|W/O
|align=center|/123
|Inbound from Caracas as Flight 940, the aircraft started aquaplaning immediately after touchdown in bad weather at Ezeiza Airport. Overran the runway threshold by . The nosegear collapsed, causing both port and starboard engines to strike the ground.
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See also
- Transportation in Venezuela