Conviasa (V0, Caracas Simón Bolivar) has announced that it will convert its options for fourteen EMB-190s into firm orders. The options are part of a USD900million deal the Venezuelan carrier signed with Embraer (São José dos Campos) last year in which it initially acquired six of the jets, the first of which was delivered in September 2012. The contract also includes a flight simulator and a logistics package to support operations for the next five years.

Aeropostal - Alas de Venezuela (VH, Caracas Simón Bolivar) along with Aserca Airlines (R7, Caracas Simón Bolivar), Avior Airlines (9V, Barcelona José Antonio Anzoategui), Estelar Latinoamerica (E4, Caracas Simón Bolivar), Laser (QL, Caracas Simón Bolivar) and Conviasa (V0, Caracas Simón Bolivar) have all announced plans to replace their ageing DC9s, B737-200s and 727s in line with a NOTAM issued by Venezuela’s National Institute of Civil Aviation (Instituto Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil - INAC) that will prohibit operations of those aircraft types in the country from November 1, 2013. ch-aviation can exclusively reveal the following fleet upgrades that currently underway: Aeropostal will replace its two remaining DC-9-50s with three ex-Alitalia (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) MD-82s. Aserca will replace its last four DC-9-30s with four ex-AeroMéxico (AM, México City) MD-83s and MD-87s. Avior is in the process of adding three B737-400s and six Fokker 50s to its fleet to replace its fleet of seven B737-200 Adv.s. Estelar Latinoamerica has added a first ex-Seagle Air (SJ, Bratislava) B737-300, N773KR (msn 23773), as a first step towards replacing its four B737-200Advs. Laser plans to add more ex-American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) MD-82s to replace its three DC-9-30s. State owned carrier, Conviasa, has taken delivery of three brand new EMB-190s, though it continues to operate two B737-200Advs. However, as of this writing, no information regarding either the future of RAVSA Venezolana (VNE, Maracaibo) and Rutaca Airlines (RUC, Ciudad Bolívar) and their respective fleets of B737-200Adv. or that of Vensecar Internacional (V4, Caracas Simón Bolivar) and its fleet of four 727Fs operating for DHL, is known.

South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) phased-out the last of its six A340-200s, ZS-SLF (c/n 6) on May 28, ch-aviation has learned. The South African national carrier will, however, continue to operate a fleet of eight A340-300s and nine A340-600s. As global fuel prices continue to bite, many of the world's airlines are moving to retire the type from their fleets with Aerolineas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Ezeiza) set to replace their four -200s with newer A330-200s, while Royal Jordanian (RJ, Amman Queen Alia) will replace theirs with B787-8s. Venezuela's Conviasa (V0, Caracas Simón Bolivar) has yet to announce their intentions for their sole remaining -200, YV1004 (c/n 31).

Conviasa (V0, Caracas Simón Bolivar) has wet-leased B767-300 I-AIGG (msn 28041) from Air Italy (I9, Milan Malpensa) for use until the end of July 2013. The aircraft is operating on the Venezuelan carrier's routes from Caracas to Madrid Barajas and Buenos Aires Ezeiza, replacing the previous equipment; an A330-300, CS-TRH (c/n 833), wet-leased from Orbest (Portugal) (4O, Lisbon).

Orbest (Spain) (IP, Palma de Mallorca Son Sant Joan) has transferred its two remaining A320-200s EC-KYZ (c/n 3758) and EC-LLX (c/n 4735) from the Spanish airline to its Portuguese sister carrier Orbest (Portugal) (4O, Lisbon). The wet-lease of A330-300 EC-LEQ (c/n 1097) with PAL Airlines (5P, Santiago de Chile Int'l) has now ended leaving the Orizonia subsidiary without active aircraft. Orbest's fleet in Portugal now includes the two A320-200s and A330-300 CS-TRH (c/n 833) operating on a wet-lease contract for Conviasa (V0, Caracas Simón Bolivar).