Santa Bárbara Airlines

Infobox Airline
airline = Santa Barbara Airlines

logo_size = 150
fleet_size = 10
destinations = 15
IATA = S3
ICAO = BBR
callsign = Santa Barbara
parent = Santa Barbara Airlines, C.A.
company_slogan = "Con calidez venezolana"
(with Venezuelan warmth)
founded = November 1, 1995
headquarters = Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
key_people = Francisco Gonzalez, President Santa Barbara Airlines
hubs = Simón Bolívar International Airport
focus_cities = La Chinita International Airport
frequent_flyer = Alturas
lounge =
alliance =
website = [http://www.sbairlines.com/ Santa Barbara Airlines]

Santa Barbara Airlines [" [http://www.sbairlines.com/eng/default.html English page] ." "Santa Barbara Airlines"] is an airline based in Caracas, Venezuela. It operates scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base is Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS), Maiquetía, with a hub at La Chinita International Airport (MAR), Maracaibo.

History

The airline was established on November 1, 1995 and started operations on March 1, 1996. It wholly owned Islas Airways until September 2006, when it was sold to the Canary Islands entrepreneurs group Grupo SOAC.

Destinations

Fleet

The Santa Barbara Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 24 September 2008):

The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft replaced the two older McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. Santa Barbara Airlines' executives promptly announced the timely retirement of the venerable DC-10's following several months plagued by maintenance issues, a move that had been speculated and expected for several months. They also announced the decision to wet-lease 2 Boeing 767 aircraft the same week, in mid-October 2005. The 767-300ER's began service on November 2, 2005. Recently, Santa Bárbara announced they'd be incorporating Boeing 737-300's to their fleet for mid and short-range operations, however, the number exact number of aircraft to be incorporated, or when said incorporations will take place, is still unknown.

Frequent flyer program

"Alturas" is the frequent flyer program for Santa Bárbara Airlines, which was launched in 2005 following the expansion of the airline when it launched flights to Europe.

Accidents

On February 21, 2008 an ATR 42 propeller aircraft, registered as "YV1449", covering Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 from Mérida to Caracas, went missing shortly after taking off. Forty-two passengers and a crew of four, including two pilots and two flight attendants, were reportedly on board at the time of the accident. On Friday, February 22, search and rescue teams confirmed they had located the remains of the aircraft in a mountain range approximately 10 kilometers North-East of Mérida at an altitude of 12,000 feet (4,000m).

Regional civil defense chief, Gerardo Rojas, was quoted as saying that the chances of anyone surviving the crash were "minimal". Initial reports indicate that the aircraft made a controlled descent into terrain. However, this proved to be false. The airplane crashed in the "Cara del Indio" mountains in the Venezuelan state of Mérida and all 48 people on board were killed in the accident.

The investigation concluded that the accident was caused by human negligence on behalf of the pilot of the plane.

[http://www.soloenvenezuela.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/santabarbara.jpg]

ee also

*Aero Ejecutivos
*Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela
*Aserca Airlines
*Avensa
*Avior Airlines
*Conviasa
*LAI - Linea Aerea IAACA
*LASER Airlines
*Linea Turistica Aerotuy
*Rutaca
*Servivensa
*Sol America
*Sundance Air Venezuela
*Transcarga
*Venezolana
*Vensecar Internacional
*Viasa

References

External links

* [http://www.sbairlines.com/eng/default.html Santa Barbara Airlines] (English)
* [http://www.santabarbaraairlines.com/ Santa Barbara Airlines] (Spanish)
* [http://www.santabarbaraairlines.com/Noticias.asp Santa Barbara Airlines Press Releases] (Spanish)
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=BBR&al_op=1 Santa Barbara Airlines Fleet]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?nr_of_rows=124&sort_order=year&first_this_page=0&page_limit=120&thumbnails=&&airlinesearch=Santa%20Barbara%20Airlines Santa Barbara Airlines in airliners.net]