Aserca Airlines is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Valencia, Carabobo

Carabobo

Carabobo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The capital city of this state is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is 4,650 km² and had an estimated population of...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. It operates domestic and regional scheduled services to destinations in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Central America and the USA. Its main base is Arturo Michelena International Airport

Arturo Michelena International Airport

Arturo Michelena International Airport serves the fast-growing industrial city of Valencia in Venezuela two hours from Caracas . It is an active airport but with few facilities, located at 10° 9' 29.46 North latitude, 67° 55' 36.31 W longitude....

, Valencia, with a hub at Simón Bolívar International Airport

Simón Bolívar International Airport (Venezuela)

Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetia is an international airport located in Maiquetía, Venezuela, about 13 miles from downtown Caracas....

, Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

.

History

The airline was established in 1968 and started operations in 1991 with small aircraft for private transport. In 1992 it entered the domestic scheduled market with a leased Douglas DC-9-30

McDonnell Douglas DC-9

The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner. It was first manufactured in 1965 with its maiden flight later that year. The DC-9 was designed for frequent, short flights. The final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.The DC-9 was followed in subsequent modified forms by...

. Aserca's operations were centred around Valencia, but it managed to develop Caracas as a hub after 1994 which made it experience a significant growth in its market share, expanding its network to Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 and Miami (no longer in service) via Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

. Between 1998 and 2000 Aserca had a controlling interest in Air Aruba

Air Aruba

Air Aruba was the main air carrier from the island of Aruba. It was founded in 1986 and it declared bankruptcy in 2000. It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba.- History :...

. In 2008, Aserca took a majority stake in fellow Venezuelan carrier SBA Airlines (Santa Barbara Airlines). A proposed merger is in discussion.

Fleet

The Aserca Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 19 May 2010) :

• 8 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
• 7 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
• 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
• 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83