Tourism promotion: Confiasa finds a new route for the Airbus A340

Few governments in the world have been able to do this. According to World Bank figures, Venezuela’s GDP per capita is exactly the same today as it was 40 years ago. And in the United Nations Human Development Index, which takes into account not only economic development but also status in terms of education and life expectancy, the country has fallen from 50th to 120th place in 25 years.

The Wilson Center, an independent US think tank, writes that Venezuela “suffered for years from polarization, repressive authoritarian rule, human rights abuses, economic catastrophe, corruption and institutional decay – as well as from an international scramble for influence and privilege”. Conviasa must assert itself in this difficult environment.

Damascus, Tehran, …

In addition to economic and social problems, Venezuela’s national airline is also under US sanctions. They make it impossible for her to travel to the US and make it difficult to get parts for Airbus, Boeing and Embraer. Funded by the state treasury, the airline is still expanding its range – sometimes in rather unusual ways.

The airline recently added Damascus back to its airline network. From the Syrian capital, you travel to Tehran. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has asked the national airline to provide a connection between his country and Syria in order to boost the economy and tourism.

… Havana, Moscow

Conviasa now not only directs its flights to Tehran through an intermediate destination. Venezuela’s national carrier has been doing the same since last Friday (June 16) on its flights from Caracas to Moscow. In the future they will be directed through Havana. The route will initially be served every 14 days with an Airbus A340-600.

However, they are considering offering the flight on a weekly basis, a representative of Conviasa told Russian portal Sputnik. It has three Airbus A340-600s, which are used for flights to Algeria, Syria and Iran, and more recently between Venezuela, Cuba and Russia. In contrast to flights through Syria to Iran, there is likely to be more demand, at least between Havana and Moscow, since Russian airlines have yet to operate the route again.

Fleet and destinations

According to the representative, Conviasa’s goal is to promote tourism between the three countries, but also to transport more goods. The airline operates a fleet of one Airbus A340-300, three A340-600, one Boeing 737-200, one ATR 42-200, 15 Embraer E190 and one Airbus ACJ319 for VIP transport.

It serves domestic destinations and international destinations such as Buenos Aires, Damascus, Havana, Kingstown (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Madrid, Managua, Mexico City, Montevideo, Moscow, Panama, Quito, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Tehran.