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SBA Airlines

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Santa Bárbara Airlines C.A, doing business as SBA Airlines and formerly as Santa Bárbara Airlines prior to 2008,[3] was an airline with its headquarters on the third floor of the Edificio Tokay in Caracas, Venezuela.[4] It operated scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base was Simón Bolívar International Airport, Maiquetía (Caracas).

SBA Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
S3 BBR SANTA BARBARA
Founded1 November 1995 (1995-11-01)
Commenced operations1 March 1997 (1997-03-01)
Ceased operations26 April 2018 (2018-04-26)[1]
HubsSimón Bolívar International Airport
Frequent-flyer programPrivilege
AllianceAserca Airlines
Fleet size5
Destinations3
Parent companyGrupo Cóndor C.A.[2]
HeadquartersCaracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela
Key peopleFrancisco González (President)
Websitewww.sbairlines.com

History

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The airline was established on 1 November 1995 and started operations on 1 March 1997. At March 2000, the airline had 80 employees and a fleet of three ATR 42-300s to serve both a domestic and a regional network that consisted of Aruba, Barquisimeto, Barranquilla, Caracas, Coro, Curaçao, Las Piedras, Maracaibo, Mérida, Santa Barbara Zulia and Valencia.[5] It wholly owned Islas Airways until September 2006, when Islas was sold to the Canary Islands company Grupo SOAC.[citation needed] Santa Bárbara Airlines was rechristened as SBA Airlines in 2008, following the acquisition of the carrier by Aserca Airlines.[6]

At first it only covered airline flights to Cabimas, Mérida, El Vigía and Santa Bárbara del Zulia. The route to Alberto Carnevali Airport in Mérida was diverted to El Vigía-Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo International Airport after the crash of Flight 518. Later, the airline took new destinations which covered the routes to Barquisimeto, Caracas, Cumaná, Las Piedras (Punto Fijo), San Antonio del Táchira and Valencia with a single overseas flight that covered the route Caracas – Oranjestad (Aruba).[7]

In early 2009, a 245-seater Boeing 767-300ER was introduced into the fleet to replace a wet-leased aircraft of the same type, and Funchal and Madrid were incorporated into the international network (which already included Miami, Quito and Tenerife) in June the same year.[6]

Later,[when?] the airline opened international routes from Caracas to Barranquilla, Quito, Lima, Lisboa, London, Madrid, Miami, New York, Santiago de Compostela, Orlando, Tenerife and Paris.[citation needed] The routes to New York City and Lima in the Americas, and Funchal, Lisboa, Madrid, Tenerife and Santiago de Compostela in Europe meanwhile ceased.[citation needed]

In late January 2018, the National Institute of Civil Aviation suspended SBA Airlines for 90 days citing the airline's impossibility to fulfil the schedules, amid the cancellation of some flights that left stranded passengers in Miami.[8][9] At this time, the Caracas–Miami route was the only service the airline had available to book at its website.[8] SBA Airlines ceased operations on April 26, 2018 (2018-04-26), after it returned its air operator's certificate.[1][10]

Destinations

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SBA Airlines served the following scheduled destinations as of January 2018.[11] After all flights were suspended by government authorities on 26 January 2018,[12]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Aruba Oranjestad Queen Beatrix International Airport
Curaçao Willemstad Hato International Airport
Ecuador Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport
Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport
Panama Panama City Tocumen International Airport Terminated [13]
Portugal Madeira Funchal Airport
Spain Madrid Madrid-Barajas Airport Terminated [14]
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela Airport Seasonal
Tenerife Los Rodeos Airport Terminated [15]
United States Miami Miami International Airport
Venezuela Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport Hub
El Vigia Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport
Maracaibo La Chinita International Airport
Punto Fijo Josefa Camejo International Airport
Valencia Arturo Michelena International Airport

Fleet

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A Boeing 767-300ER in SBA Airlines livery departing Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport in 2009.
 
A Boeing 757-200 in the Santa Bárbara Airlines livery landing at Miami International Airport in 2004.

Final fleet

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As of May 2017, the SBA Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[16]

SBA Airlines Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers[16] Notes
J Y Total
Boeing 757-200 2 — 24 154 178
Boeing 767-300ER 3 — 18 224 242
Total 5 —

Previous fleet

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Over the years, SBA Airlines had operated the following aircraft types:[17][18]

SBA Airlines Previous Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A330-200 2015 2015 Leased from Hi Fly[19]
ATR 42-300 2005 2008
ATR 42-320 1997 2006
Boeing 727-200 2003 2008
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31[20] Un­known Un­known
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 2002 2005
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2009 2018 Leased from Aserca Airlines
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 2009 2018

Accidents and incidents

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Main article: Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518

On 21 February 2008, an ATR 42-300 turboprop airliner operating Flight 518 from Mérida to Caracas, went missing shortly after taking off. Forty-three passengers and a crew of three, including two pilots and one flight attendant, were reportedly on board at the time. The remains of the aircraft were found the following day in a mountain range approximately 10 kilometers north-east of Mérida at an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,700 m). No survivors were found. After the accident, the company started a new public relations program as well as a new marketing initiative, switching the airline's name to SBA Airlines.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Santa Bárbara Airlines informó oficialmente el cese de sus operaciones" [Santa Bárbara Airlines officially announced it ceased operations]. El Nacional (in Spanish). 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Aserca and SBA Airlines celebrated the anniversary of Grupo Condor". Dinero.com.ve (in Spanish). Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "Santa Barbara Airlines frontpage". 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007.
  4. ^ "Oficinas Archived 2013-02-04 at the Wayback Machine." SBA Airlines. Retrieved on January 17, 2012. "Calle 3B, Edificio Tokay, Piso 3, La Urbina."
  5. ^ "World airline directory–Santa Barbara Airlines". Flight International. 157 (4720): 100. 21–27 March 2000. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b Sobie, Brendan (16 June 2009). "SBA begins Latin expansion with 1 July Panama launch". Washington DC: Flightglobal. Air Transport Intelligence News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Flyus - Cheap Flight Deals and Discount Santa Barbara Tickets. Search Santa Barbara Flights and Book Airfare at Flyus". Flyus.com. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. ^ a b Ruiz Parra, Catalina (30 January 2018). "Santa Bárbara Airlines no operará por 3 meses y es advertida sobre suspensión definitiva" [Santa Bárbara Airlines will not operate for three months and is warned about an indefinite suspension]. El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 February 2018.
  9. ^ "INAC suspendió a Santa Bárbara Airlines por 90 días" [INAC suspended Santa Bárbara Airlines for 90 days]. El Nacional (in Spanish). 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018.
  10. ^ "SBA Airlines entrega su Certificado de Operador Aéreo al gobierno venezolano". Transponder1200.com (in Spanish). 3 May 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  11. ^ ".: Santa B?rbara Airlines". www.sbairlines.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08.
  12. ^ "Gobierno dominicano incauta bienes de aerolínea Pawa suspendida" (in Spanish). February 13, 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  13. ^ "SBA Airlines suspenderá temporalmente su ruta Caracas – Panamá – Caracas". Aviacionaldia.com (in Spanish). August 22, 2017.
  14. ^ "Santa Bárbara Airlines suspende operaciones en ruta Caracas-Madrid". Caribbeannewsdigital.com (in Spanish). February 12, 2012.
  15. ^ "Venezuela's SBA Airlines axes Tenerife Norte flights". Ch-aviation.com. August 18, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Nuestra Flota" [Our Fleet]. sbairlines.com (in Spanish). Santa Barbara Airlines C.A. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  17. ^ "SBA Airlines fleet details". Airfleets.com. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  18. ^ "SBA Airlines fleet". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  19. ^ "SBA Airlines Fleet of A330 (History)". Airfleets.net. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  20. ^ "2010-11 SBA Airlines fleet". Archived from the original on 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2023-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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