Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
The flight times for the TATL would indicate a rare TATL west-bound redeye. Given the flight time to MSY, the connection must be somewhere in the Caribbean basin (confirms ruling out Aerolineas Argentinas).
It'd appear none of the Mexican airlines ever serviced Rome. Can't think of any Caribbean Island airline who flew to Rome so the only one left is Venezuela's VIASA (shows how once-mighty economies in S. America have fallen by the wayside)?
So the TATL route on a DC-8 from FCO stopped in, I'm guessing, BCN and MAD.
Not sure what VIASA used for short-range then but if they had DC-8s, then DC-9 stopping in CUN?
39. YVR Cockroach, your observations are very astute! It was indeed Veneolana Internacional de Aviacion Sociedad Anonima (
VIASA).
However, you're not quite there yet. Although this flight did stop in Madrid (MAD), it did not stop in Barcelona (BCN). And the connecting flight via Caracas (CCS, which about a decade later would see Air France Concorde service during what was a much better time by any measure for Venezuela) was not operated with DC-9 nor did it stop in Cancun (CUN).
Please guess again, sir!