AVENSA First Officer Wing

Caracas, Venezuela 1943-1960

Avensa was created on May 13, 1943 as a cargo airline by Venezuelan businessman, Andres Boulton Pietri, and Pan American World Airways. Their first flights occurred in December 1943, flying cargo to Venezuela's oil-rich Carteru region with Ford Tri-Motors and Stinson Reliants. By 1944, Avensa had started passenger flights with Lockheed 10A twins. Later, Dakotas were added to the fleet. These were the backbone of the fleet until 1955 when the Convair 340 were introduced for a new service to Miami. Avensa merged its international routes with the international routes of LAV (Aeropostal) in 1960 and the resulting network was the basis for a new international Venezuelan airline called Viasa. Avensa held a 45% holding in this new carrier. Pan Am sold its 30% holding of Avensa to the Venezuelan government in 1976, making it completely state owned.