Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Aeropostal shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Aeropostal offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Aeropostal at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Aeropostal? Wrong! If the Aeropostal is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Aeropostal then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Aeropostal? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Aeropostal and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Aeropostal wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Aeropostal then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Aeropostal site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Aeropostal, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Aeropostal, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox Airline| airline = Aeropostal ALAS DE VENEZUELA| logo = Aeropostal.JPG| logo_size = 200px| fleet_size = 32| destinations = 24| IATA = VH| ICAO = ALV| callsign = ALVEN|parent = Corporacion Alas de Venezuela, [1929, [Vargas State,
Venezuela, President & Owner Corporacion Alas de Venezuela| hubs = [Simón Bolívar International Airport
[Santiago Mariño International AirportArturo Michelena International Airport based in [Caracas, Venezuela. It operates domestic services and international services in the Caribbean area and to Colombia, Peru and the
United States. Its main base is
Simón Bolívar International Airport, Caracas.
History
Early history
Venezuela was one of the last South American nations to resort to commercial aviation as an effective means of transportation. In 1929, the French company
Aéropostale (aviation) (known as Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere until [1927), then under the leadership of its owner Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont, arrived in Venezuela. Aeropostale viewed Venezuela as the ideal bridge to link South America with the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. This idea materialized on July 3, 1929. Three Latecoere 28's carried out the first flights of the new airline, although some Latecoere 26's were also used in those earlier routes. On December 31,
1933, the Venezuelan government purchased the airline after the French government inexplicably decided to stop subsidizing it.
Life as a government owned company
Despite its new Venezuelan ownership, the airline continued to be run by French personnel under the direction of Robert Guerin until
January 1,
1935, when its name was changed to Linea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV) and operations shifted to Venezuelan hands under the management of commander Francisco Leonardi. At the start, the company was Market capitalization at 1,600,000 Venezuelan bolívar, but it wasn't until
May 21, 1937, that the government of Venezuela secured full ownership of the airline. It did so through an injection of capital and by replacing the Latecoe 28's with several Fairchild 71's. The expansion program was further reinforced with the purchase of six Lockheed Model 10 Electras. In
1939, LAV's headquarters were moved from Maracay to
Maiquetía because of its proximity to Caracas. That same year, Douglas DC-3s were introduced in order to transport larger cargo loads and passengers. By
1942 the fleet had grown considerably. LAV's first international flights began in July 1945, serving the city of Boa Vista, Roraima in northern Brazil. It wasn't really considered an internation destination as it was close to Venezuela's border. LAV's second international route was to Aruba in January
1946. This connected to KLM's international route structure.After the war ended, LAV re-equipped with newer aircraft, replacing it's Electra and Lockheed Lodestar fleet which was decimated by many accidents over the previous five years. Douglas DC-3s and
Douglas DC-4s were introduced along with Martin 2-0-2 aircraft. In
1947, the airline introduced Lockheed Constellations to fly a new direct international route from Caracas to
New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. This new service started on
March 21, 1947.
In
1951, LAV began service to
Lima,
Peru and Bogotá, Colombia. The Bogotá route was acquired by LAV after they purchased 88% of TACA de Venezuela. Previously, TACA de Venezuela had a joint route agreement with the Colombian airline, LANSA. Until TACA de Venezuela was completely absorbed by LAV in
1958, the route to Bogotá was flown using TACA aircraft in TACA livery. During the
1950s, LAV opened a transatlantic service and began flying to
Panama (in
1953). The Constellation fleet was upgraded to L-1049G
List of models of the Lockheed Constellation. An order for the first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, was placed, but with the Comet crashes of the 1950s, the airline never got their Comet jets. On March 24,
1956, LAV introduced its first turboprop, a
Vickers Viscount which was to replace the older piston engined
Douglas Aircraft Company and
Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft.In the early 1960s, the Venezuelan government wanted to separate LAV's international and domestic routes, thus creating a new airline, Viasa, for international flights. A new livery was introduced for the new decade. The full airline title which had appeared on the Constellation fleet was simplified to a simple and bold AEROPOSTAL. The Constellations flew with a flying globe logo on the nose, was also simplified, now appearing on the fin as a flying bird logo, a logo that would remain with the airline. Also in the early 1960s, the 'jet-prop' Avro 748 was introduced to replace the smaller piston twins that had made up LAV's fleet since 1938.
Douglas DC-8 jets were introduced in 1961 to replace the Super Constellations.
During the
1970s and
1980s LAV continued to introduce new fleet types like the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and the
McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
Current history
In August
1994, commercial operations ceased, as part of a government effort to trim expenses. This resulted in the company being sold to the Corporacion Alas de Venezuela in 1996, a Privately held company that re-started operations on January 7, 1997. Flights to the
United States began in July 1998 and to Madrid in November
2001, although the latter have since ceased. In the late 1990s, Aeropostal introduced two US-regisitered Airbus A320s to fly alongside the fleet of DC-9 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80/MD-90 jets.
The airline is fully owned by Corporacion Alas de Venezuela and has 2,319 employees (at March
2007).
Destinations
Incidents and accidents
Aeropostal has had a total of 24 accidents and incidents since April 23, 1937 with a total of 319 fatalities. The worst single aircraft accident for Aeropostal was on June 20, 1956, when 74 people were killed when a Lockheed Constellation, with call signs YV-C-AMS, crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York. http://www.baaa-acro.com/Compagnies%20L/Linea%20Aeropostal%20Venezolana.htm
Aircraft Crashes Record Office (2006).
- On July 29, 1984, Aeropostal Flight 252 from Caracas to Curacao, two gunmen, one Haitian and one of Dominican nationality, hijacked the plane with 82 people on board. The hijackers demanded money, weapons, and a helicopter to remove five children from the aircraft, and also threatened to blow up the plane if stormed. The plane was stormed by Venezuelan commandos of the DISIP, both hijackers were killed, and all hostages were released, ending the 3 day crisis.
Fleet
The Aeropostal fleet consists of the following aircraft (at July 2007)
Flight International, 3-9 October 2006 :
{]||align=center|2||align=center|112|-|
McDonnell Douglas DC-9||align=center|2||align=center|135|-|
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 / MD-90||align=center|2||align=center|140|-|
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 / MD-90||align=center|1||align=center|140|}
In September 2007, the Aeropostal fleet average age was 20.9 years. Aeropostal's Fleet Age Details
Inflight magazine
Pasajero ("Passenger") is Aeropostal's in-flight magazine. It is published six times a year with a circulation of 20,000 copies distributed in all domestic and international Aeropostal flights.
Pasajero is published by Playalens, Inc., a Hispanic-owned
Miami-based publishing company.
External links
- Aeropostal Spanish Page
- Aeropostal English Page
- Aeropostal German Page
- PASAJERO, La Revista Oficial de Aeropostal
- Fleet Age (incomplete)
- Photos
- Historic timetable images
- Flight attendant uniforms page
References
{{Infobox Airline| airline = Aeropostal ALAS DE VENEZUELA| logo = Aeropostal.JPG| logo_size = 200px| fleet_size = 32| destinations = 24| IATA = VH| ICAO = ALV| callsign = ALVEN|parent =
Corporacion Alas de Venezuela, [1929, [Vargas State, Venezuela, President & Owner Corporacion Alas de Venezuela| hubs = [Simón Bolívar International Airport
[Santiago Mariño International Airport
Arturo Michelena International Airport based in [Caracas, Venezuela. It operates domestic services and international services in the
Caribbean area and to
Colombia,
Peru and the
United States. Its main base is Simón Bolívar International Airport, Caracas.
History
Early history
Venezuela was one of the last South American nations to resort to commercial aviation as an effective means of transportation. In
1929, the French company
Aéropostale (aviation) (known as Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere until [1927), then under the leadership of its owner Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont, arrived in Venezuela. Aeropostale viewed Venezuela as the ideal bridge to link South America with the Caribbean islands of
Guadeloupe and
Martinique. This idea materialized on
July 3, 1929. Three Latecoere 28's carried out the first flights of the new airline, although some Latecoere 26's were also used in those earlier routes. On
December 31,
1933, the Venezuelan government purchased the airline after the French government inexplicably decided to stop subsidizing it.
Life as a government owned company
Despite its new Venezuelan ownership, the airline continued to be run by French personnel under the direction of Robert Guerin until January 1,
1935, when its name was changed to Linea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV) and operations shifted to Venezuelan hands under the management of commander Francisco Leonardi. At the start, the company was Market capitalization at 1,600,000 Venezuelan bolívar, but it wasn't until May 21, 1937, that the government of Venezuela secured full ownership of the airline. It did so through an injection of capital and by replacing the Latecoe 28's with several Fairchild 71's. The expansion program was further reinforced with the purchase of six
Lockheed Model 10 Electras. In 1939, LAV's headquarters were moved from Maracay to Maiquetía because of its proximity to Caracas. That same year, Douglas DC-3s were introduced in order to transport larger cargo loads and passengers. By 1942 the fleet had grown considerably. LAV's first international flights began in July 1945, serving the city of
Boa Vista, Roraima in northern Brazil. It wasn't really considered an internation destination as it was close to Venezuela's border. LAV's second international route was to
Aruba in January
1946. This connected to
KLM's international route structure.After the war ended, LAV re-equipped with newer aircraft, replacing it's Electra and Lockheed Lodestar fleet which was decimated by many accidents over the previous five years. Douglas DC-3s and
Douglas DC-4s were introduced along with Martin 2-0-2 aircraft. In
1947, the airline introduced Lockheed Constellations to fly a new direct international route from Caracas to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. This new service started on
March 21,
1947.
In
1951, LAV began service to
Lima,
Peru and
Bogotá, Colombia. The Bogotá route was acquired by LAV after they purchased 88% of TACA de Venezuela. Previously, TACA de Venezuela had a joint route agreement with the Colombian airline, LANSA. Until TACA de Venezuela was completely absorbed by LAV in
1958, the route to Bogotá was flown using TACA aircraft in TACA livery. During the 1950s, LAV opened a
transatlantic service and began flying to Panama (in 1953). The Constellation fleet was upgraded to L-1049G List of models of the Lockheed Constellation. An order for the first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, was placed, but with the Comet crashes of the 1950s, the airline never got their Comet jets. On
March 24, 1956, LAV introduced its first turboprop, a
Vickers Viscount which was to replace the older piston engined
Douglas Aircraft Company and
Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft.In the early
1960s, the Venezuelan government wanted to separate LAV's international and domestic routes, thus creating a new airline,
Viasa, for international flights. A new livery was introduced for the new decade. The full airline title which had appeared on the Constellation fleet was simplified to a simple and bold AEROPOSTAL. The Constellations flew with a flying globe logo on the nose, was also simplified, now appearing on the fin as a flying bird logo, a logo that would remain with the airline. Also in the early 1960s, the 'jet-prop' Avro 748 was introduced to replace the smaller piston twins that had made up LAV's fleet since 1938. Douglas DC-8 jets were introduced in 1961 to replace the Super Constellations.
During the
1970s and 1980s LAV continued to introduce new fleet types like the
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
Current history
In August
1994, commercial operations ceased, as part of a government effort to trim expenses. This resulted in the company being sold to the Corporacion Alas de Venezuela in
1996, a
Privately held company that re-started operations on
January 7,
1997. Flights to the United States began in July 1998 and to Madrid in November 2001, although the latter have since ceased. In the late
1990s, Aeropostal introduced two US-regisitered Airbus A320s to fly alongside the fleet of DC-9 and
McDonnell Douglas MD-80/MD-90 jets.
The airline is fully owned by Corporacion Alas de Venezuela and has 2,319 employees (at March 2007).
Destinations
Incidents and accidents
Aeropostal has had a total of 24 accidents and incidents since April 23,
1937 with a total of 319 fatalities. The worst single aircraft accident for Aeropostal was on
June 20,
1956, when 74 people were killed when a Lockheed Constellation, with call signs YV-C-AMS, crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York. http://www.baaa-acro.com/Compagnies%20L/Linea%20Aeropostal%20Venezolana.htm
Aircraft Crashes Record Office (2006).
- On July 29, 1984, Aeropostal Flight 252 from Caracas to Curacao, two gunmen, one Haitian and one of Dominican nationality, hijacked the plane with 82 people on board. The hijackers demanded money, weapons, and a helicopter to remove five children from the aircraft, and also threatened to blow up the plane if stormed. The plane was stormed by Venezuelan commandos of the DISIP, both hijackers were killed, and all hostages were released, ending the 3 day crisis.
Fleet
The Aeropostal fleet consists of the following aircraft (at July 2007) Flight International, 3-9 October 2006 :
{]||align=center|2||align=center|112|-|McDonnell Douglas DC-9||align=center|2||align=center|135|-|McDonnell Douglas MD-80 / MD-90||align=center|2||align=center|140|-|
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 / MD-90||align=center|1||align=center|140|}
In September 2007, the Aeropostal fleet average age was 20.9 years. Aeropostal's Fleet Age Details
Inflight magazine
Pasajero ("Passenger") is Aeropostal's in-flight magazine. It is published six times a year with a circulation of 20,000 copies distributed in all domestic and international Aeropostal flights.
Pasajero is published by Playalens, Inc., a Hispanic-owned
Miami-based publishing company.
External links
- Aeropostal Spanish Page
- Aeropostal English Page
- Aeropostal German Page
- PASAJERO, La Revista Oficial de Aeropostal
- Fleet Age (incomplete)
- Photos
- Historic timetable images
- Flight attendant uniforms page
References
