Venezuelan national airline Conviasa is launching a new route linking Venezuela and Syria. The airline first announced this new service a few weeks ago, but the schedule for the flight has now been published, and it’s also bookable. Let’s look at all the details.
In this post:
Basics of Conviasa’s Caracas to Damascus route
Conviasa will be launching a flight between Caracas, Venezuela (CCS), and Damascus, Syria (DAM).
As noted by AeroRoutes, service will start as of May 30, 2023, and will operate every two weeks with the following schedule:
V03750 Caracas to Damascus departing 2:30PM arriving 11:10AM (+1 day)
V03751 Damascus to Caracas departing 10:20PM arriving 5:00AM (+1 day)
The flight will operate eastbound every other Tuesday, and westbound every other Thursdays. Clearly that schedule is intended so that the crew can have just over a day of rest between operating these flights. The ~6,600 mile flight is blocked at 13hr40min in each direction.
It’s interesting that the flight is blocked at the same amount of time eastbound and westbound, since winds should differ. I’m guessing Conviasa’s aircraft utilization just isn’t that high, so a bit of a delay doesn’t make much of a difference.
The flight is bookable directly on Conviasa’s website. One-way pricing starts at $1,208 in economy, or $1,748 in business class. Hey, that’s at least a reasonable premium for business class! But I’m guessing this flight is more about what’s in the belly of the plane…
Conviasa last served Syria in 2012, when the airline operated a route from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran. Then in January 2020, Conviasa announced it would bring back the Caracas to Damascus route as of March 2020. However, with the timing coinciding with the pandemic shutting down global travel, that route never returned. Now, roughly three years later, Conviasa is giving this another try.
Conviasa’s fleet currently consists of 11 aircraft, including three Airbus A340s, one Airbus A319, and seven Embraer E190s. Conviasa recently picked up two Airbus A340-600s. These are planes that used to fly for Iran’s Mahan Air. Conviasa will be using the A340-600 for its new Damascus service.
Goodness, when you’re sourcing your planes through Iranian airlines (which usually acquire planes by simply making them “disappear), you know you’ve got an interesting fleet. As a lover of A340-600s, I’d oh-so love to fly with Conviasa, but I’m not holding my breath on that happening for now…
Other interesting flights to & from Venezuela
Caracas to Damascus seems very on-brand for Conviasa. For example, in April 2021, Conviasa launched a Caracas to Moscow flight, while in June 2022, Conviasa launched a Caracas to Tehran flight. Adding service to Damascus seems to make perfect sense, given the carrier’s strategy. I’d sure be curious to see what’s in the cargo hold of all these flights…
I think the next big question is when the Caracas to Pyongyang service will be launching, as that seems like a major hole in the carrier’s network, no?
Bottom line
Conviasa intends to launch a new route from Caracas to Damascus. The airline used to operate this service back in 2012, as part of a larger route to Tehran. Then the airline was going to restart this route in 2020, but that was paused due to the pandemic. It will now be coming back once every two weeks as of May 2023.
What do you make of Conviasa’s planned Caracas to Damascus route?
(Featured image courtesy of Andres Ramirez)
Lucky, your brainwashed pro-imperialist bias seeps out of every pore here. You are better than this! Both Venezuela and Iran are in the Western doghouse because they refuse to bend the knee to Uncle Sam. And, ouch!, they slosh about in oil and gas, a cardinal sin. Both Iranian and Venezuelan assets have been stolen by Western nations so why not short-circuit the prevalent system by connecting direct? I don't think vacationers will be filling...
Lucky, your brainwashed pro-imperialist bias seeps out of every pore here. You are better than this! Both Venezuela and Iran are in the Western doghouse because they refuse to bend the knee to Uncle Sam. And, ouch!, they slosh about in oil and gas, a cardinal sin. Both Iranian and Venezuelan assets have been stolen by Western nations so why not short-circuit the prevalent system by connecting direct? I don't think vacationers will be filling these planes just yet but since Western countries are apt to seize planes willy nilly, why not make a direct connection? Makes eminent sense.
.......or they are in the Western doghouse cause they repeatedly oppress, rob blind, and savage their people. You think everything is all good in Caracas? Its just a slanted/pro-US viewpoint that says otherwise? Iran is a bountiful utopia of joy where you totally can say what you like without, you know, disappearing or being summarily executed?
I'm totally fine with criticisms of the US, but veneration of places like Venezuela or Iran to do so...
.......or they are in the Western doghouse cause they repeatedly oppress, rob blind, and savage their people. You think everything is all good in Caracas? Its just a slanted/pro-US viewpoint that says otherwise? Iran is a bountiful utopia of joy where you totally can say what you like without, you know, disappearing or being summarily executed?
I'm totally fine with criticisms of the US, but veneration of places like Venezuela or Iran to do so is just pious contrarian BS. Love how pro-BRICS rhetoric has expanded to defend anyone the US/UK/etc... opposes with no need for nuance.
I wonder how well the A346s from Iran were maintained given the many sanctions. Maintenance not only includes parts, but also human technical services. When commercial aircraft change ownership, do the aircraft have to be re-certified by a qualified independent third party?
Google 'EMTRASUR' for some hints.
I commend the author for an absolutely hilariously well writen toung in cheek article. I reside in one of Conviasa's tropical gems and see the wit of authorship. Congrats!
Agreed, great job Ben!
Doesn't Venezuela have a history of holding onto airline money? I can't imagine this carrier could wait long for cash/gold that it's owed like major carriers would.
Since Conviasa is owned by the government, they’ll operate as long as the government wants to / can keep them running.
I actually enjoy these old posts getting posted again for no reason and with no update or note. What a fascinating flight!
My take is that you have a very western point of view. Even the fact that this requires an entire article.
I concur 100%. Lucky needs to understand that many frequent flyers are expats and don't need these western slurs constantly regurgitated. I saw what was done to Venezuela. Now the guns are trained on Israel
Who cares? The site is based in a western country. Do you think China should refrain from having “eastern” views on its sites? The author was just having fun.
Flying out of the frying pan and into the fire no matter which direction you go!
Nailed it.. but Ben really go the real reason of the flight.
The airline and route of choice. For Dr Evil and Mini Me.
LOL!
@Lucky - This is the route used to steal the only resource left in Venezuela after the communism took over and scraped every bit of wealth in Venezuela. The gold. The ecocide in the mines is only comparable to the genocide of the Venezuelan population. They probably won't even sell any tickets for the general public (that's their general practice on their shady, mostly cargo routes), but if you still want to add Venezuela to...
@Lucky - This is the route used to steal the only resource left in Venezuela after the communism took over and scraped every bit of wealth in Venezuela. The gold. The ecocide in the mines is only comparable to the genocide of the Venezuelan population. They probably won't even sell any tickets for the general public (that's their general practice on their shady, mostly cargo routes), but if you still want to add Venezuela to your visited countries list and want to make one of the greatest anticipated/least expected flight reviews, you'll be much better doing it with a local. I'm all in to help!
Terror Express, a cover for the rev guards moving people, arms into the Triangel down there....no worries, we know whose on each plane, even those not on manifest....
The Work Accidents will continue until the Morale improves...
Imagine that, not only does the USA do shady things but the rest of the world does as well.
Mostly gold
It seems that it can form its own alliance called the axis of evil
That's a great idea!
Alliance name: Axis of Evil Alliance
Founding members: Conviasa, Aeroflot, Iran Air, SyrianAir, Air Koryo
Lounges: El Helicoide, Lubyanka, Evin, Branch 215, Chŭngsan No. 11
Slogan: Doing our best so you can do your worst
Don’t forget to add Air China, China Southern and China Eastern. All part of the same Axis of Evil.
Would they be able to fly too PEK?
I don't see why not - think they did fly to Guangzhou at one point which makes sense as its a cargo hub as these routes are more about cargo than passenger service as Ben strongly hints at in the article.
would love to take a look at the passenger and cargo manifesto
I’m sure the CIA would say the same.
Over/under Quds Force members is 13.5
Conviasa tends to use Tehran as a base for all of these flights. They typically operate from Caracas to Tehran, and then tag on from there to Moscow, Guangzhou, Beirut, Damascus, Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, etc. Most of these become rather indirect routings so it really begs the question as to why there is such a focus on operating everything through Tehran. Conviasa does fly to Madrid through a wet lease agreement with Plus Ultra since...
Conviasa tends to use Tehran as a base for all of these flights. They typically operate from Caracas to Tehran, and then tag on from there to Moscow, Guangzhou, Beirut, Damascus, Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, etc. Most of these become rather indirect routings so it really begs the question as to why there is such a focus on operating everything through Tehran. Conviasa does fly to Madrid through a wet lease agreement with Plus Ultra since the EU has banned Conviasa from operating in their airspace.
Likely for maintenance reasons so they use it as a scissor-hub. Venezuela is under sanctions as well and cannot get parts etc just like Iran, but Iranians are very adept at maintaining aircraft despite that and have been operating for decades so have a lot of expertise and knowledge in doing so under these conditions. Given the warm relationship between the two countries atm, this is likely Iran assisting Venezuela with this.
typo-"other contraband."
Probably carrying weapons and the contraband.
Nothing even close to the amount of weapons the US is flying around the world!
@Alan Yet you clueless 1st world leftists would cheer any day that Venezuelans keep dying of starvation with this flights stealing the last drop of Venezuela's wealth.
Stealing the only thing left of our totally squeezed Venezuela. Gold
. . . interesting comment!
Who knows, maybe some VERY unusual new connections will be on the market soon with Conviasa, if they extend there fleet?
Maybe some more A346 from LH and they would fly to destinations, that are EXCLUSIVE to them.
I remember my 1. flight back in 1989 JFK-CCS on DC10-30 (then VIASA) back then, i was young and innocent then, but knew, THIS plane would not fly at...
. . . interesting comment!
Who knows, maybe some VERY unusual new connections will be on the market soon with Conviasa, if they extend there fleet?
Maybe some more A346 from LH and they would fly to destinations, that are EXCLUSIVE to them.
I remember my 1. flight back in 1989 JFK-CCS on DC10-30 (then VIASA) back then, i was young and innocent then, but knew, THIS plane would not fly at any other airline! . . . in the cabin, the pull down video screen on the front of the cabin, had to be DOWN all the time (even if not allowed, "stow for takeoff, landing and turbulence") and when asking on exiting the plane, i got the answer if we stow it, we could not bring it back down again. :-) :-) That itself tells a lot of there maintenance and and how old there fleet always has been and seems to stay that way in the future?
NO need to add more personal risk to the flying these days, with such airlines. Bad enough, that the choice is limited already nowadays with 787-8 & 737-MAX.
CCS-FNJ is 8900 miles, technically (if barely) within the range of a 346 assuming no airspace restrictions
Can simply be a continuing leg from this launched service to Syria or could be from Iran!
If the ZFW is low enough, your range increases significantly.
They could always schedule a technical stop in DYR if needed.