Santa Barbara Ends European Link

Venezuelan carrier Santa Barbara Airlines is set to suspend its four times weekly service between Caracas and Madrid after removing all availability from mid-February 2012. According to the airline’s latest GDS update, the last flight on the route is scheduled to take place on February 22, 2012.

The airline is one of four airlines that currently compete between the two capital cities: Iberia has a daily service, Air Europa offers six rotations per week, while fellow Venezuelan operator Conviasa has a twice weekly flight. An estimated 235,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 9.4 per cent on the previous 12 months. However, during this period Santa Barbara has slipped from being the market leader with a 32 per cent share of traffic to the number three operator with a 25 per cent share, as all its rivals have grown.

Santa Barbara is the largest local carrier in the international market offering 42 international flights to six destinations providing over 8,000 seats from the country’s largest international air gateway, Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas. The airline also flies to Guayaquil and Quito in Ecuador; Miami International, Panama City, as well as offering the only Spanish connection away from Madrid with a service to Tenerife Norte.