Santa Barbara is a newer, smaller Venezuelan airline that should appeal to budget travelers. It offers frequent flights to Venezuelan cities and has opened flights to selected cities in South and Central America, the Caribbean, the U.S. and Europe.
Santa Barbara Airlines, whose slogan is "Con calidez Venezolana" (with Venezuelan warmth), is based at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Islas Airways launched the budget airline in Santa Barbara del Zulia, a small town in Zulia state in 1996. A Canary Islands corporation, Grupo SOAC, bought it in September 2006.
In addition to its headquarters in Caracas, Santa Barbara Airlines now has a hub at La Chinita International Airport, in Maracaibo.
Santa Barbara Airlines has been competing with its regional rivals by undercutting fares and promoting itself as a budget airline. It launched a frequent flyer program, Alturas, after it began offering flights to Spain and Portugal in 2005.
Santa Barbara flies roughly 50 flights weekly to 14 international destinations. These include Miami, Florida, plus Madrid and Tenerife in Spain, as well as Funchal, Portugal. The airline uses Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft plus an A310 for its international flights.
Santa Barbara Airlines flies to Quito, Olmedo, and Guayaquil, Ecuador. It also serves Aruba in the Caribbean and Panama City, Panama.
Santa Barbara's domestic flights in Venezuela include Maracaibo, San Antonio de Tachira, Valencia and Merida. Santa Barbara Airlines uses turbo-prop ATR 42's and two Boeing 727 jets for its domestic routes.
Santa Barbara Airlines has four ATP 42-320 turbo props, four Boeing 757-300s, two McDonnell Douglas DC-9s leased from Aserca Airlines, two McDonnell Douglas MD-82s and two Boeing 767-300s.
Santa Barbara has had one accident. Flight 518, an ATR 42-300 turbo-prop bound from Merida to Caracas crashed into the side of a mountain in February 2008, killing all 43 passengers and a flight attendant.
