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| Founded | 1965 (1965) | ||||||
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| AOC # | VLIA127A[1] | ||||||
| Hubs | Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport | ||||||
| Secondary hubs | Roosevelt Roads Airport(TJRV), “Roosevelt Roads Aviation Services, LLC” | ||||||
| Focus cities | CPX, RVR, SIG, VQS | ||||||
| Fleet size | 11 | ||||||
| Destinations | 4 Destinations Scheduled(SIG, VQS, RVR, CPX), other 4 Dest. have to be Charter Flights. | ||||||
| Parent company | Blue Water Air Charters, LLC | ||||||
| Headquarters | VIG Tower, Santurce, Puerto Rico | ||||||
| Key people | Carlos Rodriguez | ||||||
| Employees | 29(Estimate) | ||||||
| Website | viequesairlink.com | ||||||
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Vieques Air Link (VAL, IATA code:V4) is a small VFR (Visual Flight Rules)Puerto Rico-based airline that operates under FAR Part 135, that linksVieques andCulebra with mainlandPuerto Rico.
Operations began during 1965, with ownerOsvaldo "Val" Gonzalez-Duriex piloting a plane with three passengers from Vieques toHumacao. ACherokee aircraft and another airplane were also acquired later, allowing the airline to serveIsla Verde International Airport.
In 1968, Vieques Air Link added a flight toSt. Croix in theVirgin Islands.
In 1980Fajardo Airport inFajardo was built and Vieques Air Link started flights to the new airport immediately. In the 1980s the company increased the frequency of flights toSan Juan, Humacao and Culebra. In 1989, Vieques Air Link lost its entire fleet toHurricane Hugo. However, it soon acquired sevenBritten-NormanIslanders and threeTrislanders.
In the 1990s VAL got into financial trouble. However, with the Vieques conflict, more and morePuerto Ricans began flying Vieques Air Link every day to go to military camps to protest, and the police also had to fly their personnel and the people arrested in those areas on VAL planes at various times. Others, like political leadersRuben Berrios andFernando Martín, and the 2002Miss Puerto RicoCarla Tricoli, who is a Viequense, have had pictures taken by the press aboard VAL planes while flying to Vieques, giving the airline a new wave of unpaid-for promotional attention. In addition, in June 2000, the airline made the cover ofIslander News magazine, under the headline "Vieques Air Link: How To Survive a Hurricane", about the airline's fleet loss of 1989 and how it survived the potentially fatal financial disaster.[2]
In 2008, VAL added a new route betweenAntonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (TJVQ) in Vieques and the newJosé Aponte de la Torre Airport (TJRV) at the formerRoosevelt Roads Naval Base (NRR) in Ceiba, shortening the flight between Vieques and the Puerto Rican mainland to seven or eight minutes in a Britten-Norman Islander (BN2P), or Piper Cherokee (PA-32-260).
Vieques Air Link, Inc provides flights at the following locations:[3]
| [Hub] | Hub |
| [F] | Future destination |
| [S] | Seasonal |
| [T] | Charter destinations |
| Scheduled Destinations |
| Aircraft | In fleet | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six | 4 | Passenger |
| Britten-Norman Islander | 7 | Passenger/Med Transport/Cargo |
| Britten-Norman Trislander | 1 | Cargo |
