Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
Venezuelan start-up TransVen Airlines plans to finally commence charter services from mid-December after being delayed by a series of equipment setbacks. Its entry into the market follows fresh on the heels of the demise of another Venezuelan owned carrier Air Aruba.
TransVen has wet-leased an Airbus A300B4 from Air Anatolia of Turkey on an interim three month basis. "Our main services will be to holiday destinations in the Caribbean on behalf of Venezuelan, Brazilian and Canadian tour operators," says Pedro Vegas, TransVen co-owner and executive vice president.
The carrier plans to fly initially from Caracas to Cancun, the Dominican Republic, Havana, Sïo Paulo and St Martins. It also hopes to operate to Fort Lauderdale, but will have to use a wet leased jet as Venezuela is still classified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Category 2 nation.
TransVen originally planned to lease two ex-Swissair A310-300s but was unable to reach agreement with Airbus Asset Management on reconfiguring the aircraft to a charter configuration. It then planned to lease an A300B4 from TransAer of Ireland, but before the aircraft could be delivered the company ceased operating in late October.
"This put us in a difficult position to find an aircraft to start our charter operation in time for the December season. We're now in conversation with GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) to dry lease a A300B4, probably the same ex-TransAer aircraft, with a high-density configuration to complement the Air Anatolia A300 operation," says Vegas.
US and regional airlines in the meantime are moving to step into the void left by the collapse of Air Aruba as creditors called in loans. The Dutch Antilles-based carrier, which is majority owned by Venezuelan carrier Aserca, has already returned two of its three leased Boeing MD-90s.
Continental Airlines, which had previously announced plans to fly from Newark to Aruba four times a week from December, is now seeking permission to make this a daily service from February. American Airlines is seeking to increase its planned new Boston service from one to three weekly frequencies.
Columbian operator Avianca is seeking approval to fly to Miami and New York via Aruba, while Aeropostal is also increasing services to the southern Caribbean island. The Venezualan carrier, having shelved plans to acquire new Airbus A320s, is now understood to be discussing leasing two re-engined Boeing 727 Super 27s to meet noise restrictions operating into the USA.
Source: Flight International
