LASER Airlines (legally and officially Línea Aérea de Servicio Ejecutivo Regional, C.A.) is a regional airline based in Caracas, Venezuela.[2] It operates scheduled and passenger charter services within Venezuela, the Caribbean, and South America. Its main hub is Simón Bolívar International Airport.[3]
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| Founded | September 1993 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | March 11, 1994 | ||||||
| Hubs | Simón Bolívar International Airport | ||||||
| Secondary hubs | La Romana International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | LASER Club[1] | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | RED Air | ||||||
| Fleet size | 10 | ||||||
| Destinations | 12 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Caracas, Venezuela | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | www | ||||||
History
editThe airline was established in September 1993 and started operations on March 11, 1994.[4] At the beginning, the company had one Douglas DC-9-14, and only the following year purchased a Boeing 727-200. It began to expand domestic and international destinations, becoming one of Venezuela’s main airlines.
After the outbreak of the Venezuelan crisis in 2014, due to the embargo sanctions imposed by the United States, some of LASER’s international routes were changed to origin and end at Las Americas International Airport in Dominican Republic to ensure that relevant routes continue to operate.
LASER began to fly to Miami in an alliance with World Atlantic Airlines, which has been a partner since November 2016, an alliance was established through which the Miami-Caracas flight was created daily. A second frequency was added to this frequency by partnering with Swift Air to offer greater comfort to passengers on both frequencies, it was possible to expand the baggage allowance and operate 2 classes. Both are operated with equipment of Boeing 737s, thus dissolving the alliance with World Atlantic. Subsequently, due to the decision taken by the United States Government, on May 15, 2019, flights to Venezuela from the United States were suspended indefinitely.[5] Due to this, LASER created a hub at Las Americas International Airport, adding frequency to this destination, leaving 2 daily frequencies and with the possibility of connecting to Miami, maintaining the alliance with Swift Air.
On December 1, 2019, LASER was forced to cancel its Caracas-Guayaquil route due to complex migratory demands by the Government of Ecuador for Venezuelans. Still, a few weeks later, it announced a new route to Caracas-Bogotá with a daily frequency that began operating on February 10, 2020.
In January 2020, LASER formed a subsidiary low-cost airline named RED Air, under a joint venture with a Dominican corporation, SERVAIR.[6]
Destinations
edit
As of June 2024[update], LASER operates services to the following domestic and international scheduled destinations:[7]
Codeshare agreements
editFleet
edit
Current
editAs of June 2024[update], LASER Airlines consists of the following aircraft:[15]
| Aircraft | In service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | W | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A330-200 | 1 | — | 18 | 36 | 214 | 268 | Leased from Hi Fly[16] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | 4 | — | – | – | 163 | 163 | Last commercial operator |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 3 | — | 12 | – | 137 | 149 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 2 | — | 16 | – | 124 | 140 | |
| Total | 10 | — | |||||
Former
editLASER Airlines had in the past operated the following aircraft:[15]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 727-200 | 3 | 1995 | 2000 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 | 1 | 1994 | 2007 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 | 6 | 1999 | 2016 |
Accidents and incidents
edit- On March 17, 2014, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registered YV2945) flying from Porlamar to Valencia with 96 people on board, burst both nose gear tires while landing at Arturo Michelena International Airport and came to a stop on the runway with the tires and both nose wheels damaged, and was disabled. No injuries occurred.[17]
- On May 25, 2021, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (registered YV3465) made an emergency landing after a failure in the left engine, the crew reported that a bird strike caused the failure. The aircraft landed back safely at Simón Bolívar International Airport and all 116 on board were uninjured.[18]
- On April 28, 2024, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating flight 943 from Caracas to Santo Domingo reported smoke on board during take off. Emergency slides were deployed and all 91 people onboard evacuated, although some injuries were reported. [19]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Laser Club trae de regreso los programas de viajero frecuente". Elestimulo.com. 2 June 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ "Ubicanos - Laser Airlines". Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 105.
- ^ "Empresa - Laser Airlines".
- ^ a b "U.S. orders suspension of flights to and from Venezuela". Vanguardngr.com. May 16, 2019.
- ^ "Red Air history from Americas, Dominican Republic". Airlinehistory.co.uk. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ laserairlines.com - Find flight retrieved September 16, 2020
- ^ "Flights to Colombia: Laser Airlines begins marketing its flights to Bogotá". Aviacionline.com. 26 May 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ "Laser Airlines Resumes Operations to the Netherlands Antilles: A Guide to Travel and Entry Requirements". Aviacionline.com. 5 May 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Venezuela Suspends Flights to Panama and Dominican Republic Amid Political Tensions". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Laser Airlines suspenderá la ruta Caracas-Cancún temporalmente". Elnacional.com (in Spanish). 3 March 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ "Laser Airlines to temporarily suspend flights to Panama". Aviacionaldia.com. January 23, 2024.
- ^ "Vuelos regulares de Laser Airlines Caracas-Madrid inician el lunes #3Jun". Finanzasdigital.com (in Spanish). June 3, 2024.
- ^ "Plus Ultra to Start Cali, Cartagena Routes in June". Cndnews.com. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- ^ a b "LASER Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ Gastón Sena (June 2, 2024). "LASER Airlines recibio su primer Airbus A330 para volar a España". Aviacionline.com (in Spanish).
- ^ "Laser McDonnell Douglas MD-82 at Valencia on Mar 17th 2014, both nose tyres blown on landing". aeroinside.com. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ "Accident: Laser MD83 at Caracas on Apr 28th 2024, smoke in cabin after landing". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
External links
edit
Media related to LASER Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
