It’s a well-known saying that those who are declared dead live longer. This applies to the Venezuelan airline, Transcarga International Airways (TIA), which is about to be revived. After it bit the dust in OCT23, it recently regained its AOC and is preparing to resume flights once more.
These will be carried out with two McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 freighters, which TIA intends to operate on long-haul transcontinental routes. The relaunch is aimed at strengthening the country’s logistics supply chains, with special emphasis on supporting the oil industry and strategic industrial sectors by transporting heavy machinery and critical supplies.
No operational specifics announced yet
The move comes after the fall of the Maduro regime and the end of the U.S. blockade on air traffic to and from Venezuela. This has been indirectly confirmed by executives of Transcarga International Airways, pointing out that the recent “geopolitical changes in the region allow TIA to fully reintegrate into the logistics market.” The routing and the dates of entry into service of the two McDonnell Douglas / DC-10-30 aircraft will be announced following the completion of the required technical inspections.
With its two freighters, the company seeks to position itself in the reconfiguration of Venezuela’s supply chains, focusing on logistical support for the local energy industry. This includes the air transport of heavy machinery, appliances and industrial supplies critical to the revitalization of the country’s run-down oil sector. The investment in the DC-10-30s is based on vital strategic considerations. Crude oil and the technical and infrastructural set-up necessary for its extraction and processing are the economic lifeline of this highly indebted country, which has been driven into political and economic ruin by the authoritarian presidential regimes of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
No information available on the airline’s finances
Prior to its grounding in the fall of 2023, the carrier was the only freight airline offering non-stop cargo services between the United States and Venezuela – at the time with Airbus A300 equipment.
Transcarga’s beginnings date back to its maiden flight in 1998. It was founded by Julio Márquez Biaggi, a businessman and former captain of Viasa/KLM, as Transcarga Intl. Airways, C.A. In the years that followed, the company focused on charter flights between Venezuela and the U.S. before scheduled flights supplemented its capacity offering.
TIA management has not provided any information on the financing of the re-launch. The staffing situation is also unclear at present, as is who will head the airline.
The fact that it is reactivating old DC-10 aircraft instead of leasing more modern and less fuel-thirsty freighters, does not indicate that the carrier’s coffers are full.
