Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport


IATA: CCS ICAO: SVMI

Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Instituto Autónomo del Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía
Serves	Caracas, Venezuela
Location	Maiquetía
Hub for	Conviasa LASER Airlines Solar Cargo Transcarga
Elevation AMSL	235 ft / 72 m
Coordinates	10°36′11″N 066°59′26″WCoordinates: 10°36′11″N 066°59′26″W
Website	aeropuerto-maiquetia.com.ve

Simón Bolívar International Airport or Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” International Airport (IATA: CCS, ICAO: SVMI, Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia “Simón Bolívar”) is an international airport located in Maiquetía, Vargas, Venezuela about 21 kilometres (13 mi) west of downtown Caracas, the capital of the country. Simply called Maiquetía by the local population, it is the main international air passenger gateway to Venezuela. It handles flights to destinations in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

Aerial view
Source: Agencia Bolivariana para Actividades Espaciales

Crisis in Venezuela

During the ongoing crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela, domestic airlines are laboring under tremendous difficulties because of hyperinflation and parts shortages. Many international airlines have left the country. International airlines that have left Venezuela include Aeroméxico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Canada, Alitalia, Avianca, Delta, Lufthansa, and LATAM, making travel to the country difficult. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Bolivarian government has not paid US$3.8 billion to international airlines in a currency issue involving conversion of local currency to U.S. dollars. Airlines have left for other reasons, including crime against flight crews, stolen baggage, and problems with the quality of jet fuel and maintenance of runways.

Following the increasing economic partnership between Venezuela and Turkey in October 2016, Turkish Airlines started offering direct flights from December 2016 connecting between Caracas to Istanbul (via Havana, Cuba) in an effort to “link and expand contacts” between the two countries.

By 2018, terminals in the airport lacked air conditioning and utilities such as water and electricity. Flight crews are often sent to different cities to avoid crime that occurs in the area. The company charged with providing sanitation services ceased to exist, so cleaning no longer occurs as frequently at the facility. The Bolivarian National Guard, tasked with providing security, often extorts travelers by force.

In support of President Nicolas Maduro’s government, Russian Air Force aircraft, including Tupolev Tu-160 bombers, were deployed to the airport in early December 2018. In March 2019, two Russian planes were deployed to the airport carrying 100 troops and 35 tonnes of matériel. The Russian planes left the country 3 months later on 26 June 2019, according to the Russian embassy announcement.

American Airlines, the last U.S. airline serving Venezuela, left on 15 March 2019, after its pilots refused to fly to Venezuela, citing safety issues. Two months later, the United States Department of Transportation and Department of Homeland Security indefinitely suspended all flights between Venezuela and the United States, due to safety and security concerns.The suspension affects mainly Venezuelan airlines that flew to Miami: Avior Airlines, LASER Airlines, and Estelar Latinoamerica.

Iranian airline Mahan Air (blacklisted by the U.S. government since 2011) began direct flights to Caracas in April 2019, “signifying a growing relationship between the two nations” according to Fox News.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced on 3 February 2020 that the country has imposed epidemiological surveillance, restrictions and diagnostic system to detect possible patients at this airport and that Venezuela will receive a diagnostic kit for the virus strain from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Aerocaribe Airlines	Charter: Los Roques
Aeropostal	Havana, Porlamar, Santiago de Cuba
Air Europa	Madrid
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Albatros Airlines	Barranquilla, Bogotá, Las Piedras, Los Roques, Medellín, Porlamar, Puerto Cabello, Puerto Ordaz, San José de Costa Rica
Avior Airlines	Barcelona (VEN), Barinas, Belém, PA – BRA, Bogotá, Cali, Curaçao, Guayaquil, Lima, Manaus, Medellín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, Punta Cana
Caribbean Airlines	Port of Spain
Conviasa	Barinas, Cancún, Cumaná, El Vigía, Guayaquil, Havana, La Fría, Las Piedras, Managua, Maracaibo, Maturín, Panama City–Tocumen, Porlamar, Puerto Ayacucho, Puerto Ordaz, Quito, San Fernando de Apure, Santa Cruz de La Sierra–Viru Viru, Santo Domingo del Táchira, San Tomé, Toluca/Mexico City
Copa Airlines	Panama City–Tocumen
Estelar Latinoamerica	Barquisimeto, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cumaná, Lima, Lisbon, Madrid, Maracaibo, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo del Táchira
Iberia	Madrid
LASER Airlines	Aruba, Barcelona (VE), Barquisimeto, Bogotá, Curaçao, El Vigía, Guayaquil, La Fría, Maracaibo, Panama City–Tocumen, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, Santo Domingo–Las Americas
Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas	Madrid, Tenerife–North
RUTACA Airlines	Barcelona (VE), Ciudad Bolívar, Porlamar
SASCA	Charter: Los Roques
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul1
Venezolana	Maracaibo, Maturín, Panama City–Tocumen, Porlamar, Port of Spain, Santo Domingo–Las Americas
Wingo	Bogotá

^1 Turkish Airlines’ flight from Caracas to Istanbul makes a stop in Havana. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Caracas and Havana.

Chronology of international airlines formerly serving Caracas

Since 2014, foreign and domestic carriers have reduced their presence due to political instability and their inability to recover US$3.8 billion in funds owed to airlines. For fear of safety, some carriers have avoided overnight flight crews in Caracas, choosing to make a stop in a nearby country instead. The chronology of terminations is as follows:

Airline	Destination	Flight frequency	Terminated/Suspended
Air Canada	Toronto–Pearson	4 flights per week	18 March 2014
Avianca Costa Rica	San Jose de Costa Rica	Daily flights	7 April 2014
American Airlines	Dallas–Fort Worth	1 flight per week	1 July 2014
American Airlines	San Juan	Daily flights	1 July 2014
Alitalia	Rome–Fiumicino	1 flight per week	3 April 2015
Gol Transportes Aéreos	São Paulo–Guarulhos	1 flight per week	10 February 2016
American Airlines	New York–JFK	5 flights per week	4 April 2016
LATAM Brasil	São Paulo–Guarulhos	1 flight per week	28 May 2016
Lufthansa	Frankfurt	3 flights per week	17 June 2016
Aeroméxico	Mexico City	3 flights per week	23 June 2016
LATAM Perú	Lima	1 flight per week	1 August 2016
LATAM Chile	Santiago	2 flights per week	1 August 2016
LATAM Chile	Miami	1 flight per week	1 August 2016
Dynamic Airways	Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood	Daily flights	13 August 2016
Insel Air	Willemstad, Curaçao	Daily flights	7 June 2017
United Airlines	Houston–Intercontinental	Daily flights	30 June 2017
Avianca	Bogotá	3 flights per day	27 July 2017
Dynamic Airways	New York–JFK	2 flights per week	1 August 2017
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires–Ezeiza	1 flight per week	5 August 2017
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	Daily flights	16 September 2017
TAME	Quito via Bogotá	4 flights per week	3 February 2018
American Airlines	Miami	2 flights per day	15 March 2019
Cubana de Aviación	Havana and Holguín	Weekly flights	23 October 2019

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation	Port of Spain
KF Cargo	Lima
Sky Lease Cargo	Lima
Solar Cargo	Barbados, Bogota, Curaçao, Guatemala City, Lima, Panama City, Punta Cana
Transcarga	Barbados, Curaçao
Vensecar International	Aruba, Bogota, Curaçao, Panama City

Other facilities

From 1960 to 1997, it was the main hub for Viasa, Venezuela’s former flag carrier until it went bankrupt. As well as it was the hub for Avensa, Servivensa. Conviasa started operation in 2004, hoping to become in a big and leader airline, and flag carrier. However, due to financial crisis in Venezuela, several pilots quit and are leaving Conviasa in order to fly to other nations like Turkey which operates the same type of aircraft. The headquarters of Conviasa is located on the airport grounds.

Accidents and incidents

On 27 November 1956, Linea Aeropostal Flight 253, a Lockheed Constellation, crashed while on final approach to Caracas Airport. All 25 passengers and crew on board were killed.
On 12 December 1968, Pan Am Flight 217, crashed while on approach to Caracas. All 51 passengers and crew on board were killed.
On 3 December 1969, Air France Flight 212 crashed shortly after takeoff from Simón Bolívar International Airport. All 62 passengers and crew on board were killed.
On 3 November 1980, a Latin Carga Convair CV-880 crashed on take-off from the airport, resulting in the deaths of 4 occupants, and total destruction of the aircraft. The aircraft involved, registration YV-145C, had flown from 1962 to January 1974 for Delta Air Lines of the United States and was retired by that airline, then sold to Latin Carga in 1979.
On 16 October 2008, a RUTACA Airlines Boeing 737 went out of the runway while braking for arrival at 3:30 PM. It was flying from San Antonio de Tachira with 44 people. No one was killed or injured.

Customs and immigration area
Source: Wilfredor

In popular culture

The airport is shown on the movie Menudo: La Película, when a pair of Menudo’s friends board a flight during the film’s final scenes. The airport is also shown in the 1975 French film “Le Sauvage” [Call me Savage, UK Title] starring Catherine Deneuve, Yves Montand Luigi Vannucchi and Tony Roberts, directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, as several soap-opera and movie key scenes were filmed at the airport.

Source: wikipedia