Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic and the illegal sanctions imposed by the US government, in 2020, the Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos S.A. (Conviasa) increased its operations by more than 85%.
In this sense, the flag airline of Venezuela, in 2020, executed 4,434 flights between humanitarian, commercial, Plan Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland Plan) and air cargo, which turned it into an air bridge between Venezuela and nations.
These flights facilitated the transfer of 166,643 passengers on national and international routes, in addition to transporting 1,709,214 tons of cargo from different parts of the world with medicines and equipment for the treatment of COVID-19, as well as raw materials and supplies intended to strengthen the agro-industrial area.
Likewise, it should be noted that so far in 2021, 756,862 tons of cargo have already been mobilized, so they estimate to exceed the statistics obtained in 2020 in terms of cargo transport.
The aircraft maintenance service provided by Conviasa is another source of income for the consortium, which in 2020 carried out 2,364 maintenance to its own and third parties, and so far this year 2021, the statistics show 98 maintenance.
This service will be expanded with the construction of the National Aeronautical Maintenance Center at the Libertador Air Base, in Maracay, Aragua state, where major maintenance will be provided to wide-body aircraft in the region.
New destinations for 2021:
Likewise, Conviasa has planned the opening of direct flights Caracas – Moscow – Caracas, as well as flights to Iran, China and Syria that will materialize when the measures imposed by each country to make flights to those destinations become more flexible, which will encourage receptive tourism In Venezuela.
Similarly, during the month of March commercial operations to Tehran are scheduled to begin and flights to the Asian Giant will be included in the itinerary. «We are planning to reach China with cargo and passenger flights,» said Velásquez Aranguayán.
At Easter the airline will activate the Cancun-Porlamar connection: «There is an important potential for passengers who want to know the tourist activity in Venezuela,» he stressed.
The strategic plan «a great 2021» for Conviasa with the strengthening of freight transport with China, through the commercial alliance with the private Chinese-Venezuelan strategic company ChinVen Express, which «will be the mirror of what Amazon and Alibaba are”.
Velásquez Aranguayán affirmed that it is expected to close the year 2021 with more wide-body aircraft, in addition to the acquisition of aircraft for air cargo, with which they will transport cargo between China and Venezuela.
The acquisition of new aircraft and the expansion of the routes merits the incorporation of some 600 pilots, who must receive the proper training to operate the aircraft, so that Conviasa will become one of the most attractive places for aviators in the region.
Another advance of Conviasa was materialized by certifying with the ISO 9001: 2015 quality standard the airworthiness processes and flight approach, which guarantee the safety and quality of an efficient and safe service; as well as the progress to achieve the IOSA certification during 2021.
The Libertador Air Base stands out as the epicenter of aeronautical development in the region due to its strategic location and because it concentrates the companies that make up the Conviasa Consortium, “These are companies that come to strengthen the Consortium’s business structure, as an element that enhances the aeronautical industry to develop aerospace power”.
Finally, Velásquez Araguayán assured that Conviasa «is not just an airline, it is a consortium of companies that come to contribute innovative elements to the national economy to strengthen the nation’s productive engines.»
