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Avianca Brasil

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Not to be confused with Avianca Colombia or Avianca El Salvador.

OceanAir Linhas Aéreas S.A.
IATA ICAO Call sign
O6 ONE OCEANAIR
Founded30 June 1998; 26 years ago (1998-06-30) (as OceanAir)
Ceased operations24 May 2019; 5 years ago (2019-05-24) (suspended)
14 July 2020; 4 years ago (2020-07-14) (bankrupt)
HubsRio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont
Secondary hubsSão Paulo–Congonhas
Frequent-flyer programPrograma Amigo
AllianceStar Alliance (2015-2019; affiliate)[1]
Fleet size6
Destinations4
Parent companySynergy Group
HeadquartersSão Paulo, Brazil
Key peopleFrederico Pedreira (President)
José Efromovich (CEO)
RevenueUS$720 million (2019)
Employees1,687 (2019)[2]
Websiteavianca.com.br

Avianca Brasil S.A. (Portuguese: Avianca Brasil), officially Oceanair Linhas Aéreas S/A, was[3] a Brazilian airline based in Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil.[4][5] According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), which cancelled its operation, prior to cessation of operations, from January to December 2018 Avianca Brasil had 13.4% of the domestic and 7.3% of the international market share in terms of passengers per kilometer flown,[6] making it the fourth-largest airline both in domestic and international traffic in Brazil. The company slots (landings and take-off permits) were redistributed by Anac. An auction on 10 July 2019 raised R$555.3 million, not enough to pay a debt of R$2.7 billion, although Avianca's bankruptcy was not officially decreed.[7]

History

[edit]

OceanAir

[edit]
A former OceanAir Fokker 100 taxiing at Afonso Pena International Airport in 2007

The airline was established on 30 June 1998 as an air taxi company to operate services for oil companies in the Campos Basin. Its name was then OceanAir and began to operate scheduled services in 2002, between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Macaé and Campos. Soon afterwards, it became better known to the public with a scheduled flight (no longer operated) connecting São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro via São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, enabling international passengers from both cities easy access to the country's largest international hub from those cities' more convenient central airports. At the time, OceanAir's fare between São Paulo's airports was cheaper than a taxi and on par with a luxury bus ride.

In 2004, Synergy Group, the owner of the airline, bought the Colombian airline Avianca, which was undergoing judicial reorganization. As a result, OceanAir became a feeder for Avianca's flights into Guarulhos. This partnership between the two airlines increased the flow of passengers between Colombia and Brazil. Synergy Group also bought VIP as part of a strategy to create a continent-wide airline under the Avianca brand. In November 2005, a joint venture formed by OceanAir (49%) and Fondo de Inversiones Sustentables (51%) created a new Peruvian airline called Wayraperú, but the airline suspended operations a few months later until it was re-established later in 2018.

OceanAir started operating international flights in 2007 with three Boeing 767-300ERs and a Boeing 757-200, but by April 2008, the flights were discontinued because of increase in operating costs. Since then, the airline has concentrated its efforts on the Brazilian domestic market only. 5 Airbus A330s and 30 Airbus A320s were ordered in 2010, a contract worth US$ 2,5 billion. With this fleet growth, Efromovich intended to control 15% of the Brazilian air market in the next decade, including routes to Mexico, Colombia, Africa and the United States.[8]

Avianca Brasil

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A former Avianca Brasil Airbus A318-100 at Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport in 2012
A former Avianca Brasil Airbus A320-200 at Salgado Filho International Airport in 2015

On 9 October 2009, Synergy announced that TACA Airlines and Avianca would merge. This merger increased OceanAir's feeder operations, already implemented with Avianca in São Paulo, to include TACA in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Santos Dumont Airport, Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre and Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasília.

On 26 March 2010, Germán Efromovich announced the rebranding of OceanAir as Avianca Brasil. However, OceanAir Linhas Aéreas remained as the legal name of the airline.[9] This allowed the Synergy group to further align the operations of OceanAir and Avianca.[10] The first aircraft with the new name started operations on 27 April 2010.[11] The only notable differences between the aircraft of Avianca Colombia and those of Avianca Brasil are the latter's Brazilian registrations and a small Brazilian flag under their cockpit windows.

On 10 November 2010, Star Alliance decided to accept AviancaTaca Holding to join the network as a member airline. However, Avianca Brasil was rejected at the time due to its outdated IT platforms and an objection by TAM Linhas Aéreas, which since left Star Alliance to join Oneworld after merging with LAN Airlines.[12] Upon TAM's exit, Avianca Brasil officially joined Star Alliance on 22 July 2015 as an affiliate.[13]

On 11 October 2016, the airline took delivery of the first of 8 Airbus A320neos being leased from GECAS.[14] Independent from Avianca, the airline increased its market share from 3% in 2009 to 14% in 2018, becoming Brazil's fourth-largest carrier.[15]

Bankruptcy

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On 10 December 2018, Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy protection, R$ 100 million (US$26 million) was owed to airports and bank debt grew by 50% in 2018, while United Airlines extended a loan of US$456 million to Avianca owner Synergy Group.[15] Total debts amount to 493 million reais (US$127 million), whereas the first half of 2018 generated 175.6 million reais of losses.[16] On 18 April 2019 Azul cancelled its offer to buy Avianca Brasil, but resubmitted the offer on 13 May.[17][18] On 24 May 2019, ANAC suspended flights of Avianca Brasil, due to security reasons.[4] On 24 June 2019, its suspension was officially written in the official Diary by Anac.[3] On 10 July 2019, the auction generated US$147,32 million or R$555,3 million from Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes and LATAM Brasil, if valid, however the debts are R$2.7 billion.[19]

On 20 August 2019, Star Alliance announced Avianca Brasil's exit from the alliance from 1 September 2019. The departure, however, didn't affect Avianca's membership.[20]

On 14 July 2020, Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy in court.[21]

Corporate affairs

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Even though the legal name of the airline remained as OceanAir, it was re-branded as Avianca since it was owned by Synergy Group, which owns Avianca Holdings.[22] The original Avianca of Colombia and Avianca Brasil remained separate legal entities, but in February 2017, it was reported that Avianca Holdings planned to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to fold Avianca Brasil into Avianca Holdings.[23] Its current CEO, Frederico Pedreira, took office in April 2016. José Efromovich, younger brother of Germán Efromovich, President of Avianca Holdings, who had led the company since 2008, took office as chairman of the Board of Directors on the same date.[24]

Destinations

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Avianca Brasil operated the following flights at the time of its suspension of operations in May 2019.[25][26]

The list includes destinations operated under the former name OceanAir.

Country City Airport Notes Refs
 Brazil Alta Floresta Alta Floresta Airport Terminated
Aracaju Santa Maria Airport Terminated
Belém Belém/Val-de-Cans International Airport Terminated
Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte International Airport Terminated
Brasília Brasília International Airport
Campo Grande Campo Grande International Airport Terminated
Chapecó Chapecó Airport Terminated
Cuiabá Marechal Rondon International Airport Terminated
Curitiba Afonso Pena International Airport Terminated
Florianópolis Hercílio Luz International Airport Terminated
Fortaleza Fortaleza Airport Terminated
Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu International Airport Terminated
Goiânia Goiânia International Airport Terminated
Ilhéus Ilhéus Jorge Amado Airport Terminated
Ji-Paraná José Coleto Airport Terminated
João Pessoa Presidente Castro Pinto International Airport Terminated
Juazeiro do Norte Juazeiro do Norte Airport Terminated
Maceió Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport Terminated
Manaus Eduardo Gomes International Airport Terminated
Natal Augusto Severo International Airport Airport closed
Greater Natal International Airport Terminated
Navegantes Navegantes Airport Terminated
Passo Fundo Lauro Kurtz Airport Terminated
Petrolina Petrolina Airport Terminated
Porto Alegre Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport Terminated
Porto Velho Governador Jorge Teixeira de Oliveira International Airport Terminated
Recife Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport Terminated
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport Terminated
Santos Dumont Airport Hub
Salvador de Bahia Salvador Bahia Airport
São Paulo São Paulo–Congonhas Airport Hub
São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport Terminated
Vitória Eurico de Aguiar Salles Airport Terminated
 Chile Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport Terminated
 Colombia Bogotá El Dorado International Airport Terminated
 Mexico Cancún Cancún International Airport Terminated
Mexico City Mexico City International Airport Terminated
 Peru Lima Jorge Chávez International Airport Terminated
 United States Miami Miami International Airport Terminated
New York City John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminated

Former codeshare agreements

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Avianca Brasil had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[27]

Fleet

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As of May 2019, the Avianca Brasil fleet included the following aircraft.[30]

Avianca Brasil fleet
Aircraft Out of
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A318-100 3 — — 120 120 All Scrapped (PR-ONC, PR-ONI and PR-AVJ)[31]
Airbus A319-100 2 — — 132 132 1 stored at Congonhas Airport (PR-AVD)
1 returned from lease (PR-AVB)
Airbus A320-200 1 — — 162 162 Taken by LATAM Brasil (PR-OCW)
Total 6 —

Retired fleet

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Avianca Brasil had formerly operated the following aircraft:[32][33]

Retired Avianca Brasil fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A320neo 12 2016 2019 Returned to owners due to default.
All later went to Azul Brazilian Airlines.
Airbus A330-200 6 2014 2019
Airbus A330-200F 1 2014 2019 Transferred to Avianca Cargo
Beechcraft C90 1 Un­known Un­known
Boeing 737-300 3 2007 2009 Purchased from BRA Transportes Aéreos
Boeing 757-200 1 2007 2008 Transferred to Avianca
Boeing 767-300ER 3 2007 2008
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia 7 2002 2008
Fokker 50 5 2003 2008
Fokker 100 16 2005 2017 Purchased from American Airlines
Learjet 35A 1 1998 2004
Learjet 45 1 2004 2019
Learjet 55C 1 1999 2010

Frequent-flyer program

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Avianca Brasil had a frequent-flyer program called Programa Amigo.

Accidents and incidents

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  • On March 28, 2014, a Fokker 100 (registered PR-OAF) crashed while landing at Brasília International Airport after the nose landing gear could not be extended due to a hydraulic failure. No one was harmed in the incident.[35] The aircraft was damaged beyond repairs and was written off, however it was later preserved as a Pan Am-themed restaurant at Brasília in August 2020.[36]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Avianca Brasil". Star Alliance. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Avianca Brasil deve demitir cerca de 1 mil funcionários em junho" (in Portuguese). G1. 1 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Concessão da Avianca Brasil é oficialmente suspensa pela Anac". Panrotas. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Anac anuncia suspensão das operações da Avianca Brasil". G1 (in Portuguese). 24 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Directory:World Airlines". Flight International. 10 April 2007. p. 58.
  6. ^ "Demanda e oferta do transporte aéreo" (in Portuguese). Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC). 23 January 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Justiça dá aval para Anac redistribuir slots da Avianca" (in Portuguese). DN. 6 July 2019.
  8. ^ Exame Magazine, 18 December 2006
  9. ^ Laguna, Eduardo (26 April 2010). "OceanAir passa a se chamar Avianca" (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Valor Online. Retrieved 27 April 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ Jardim, Lauro (17 March 2010). "Panorama: Radar: Aviação". Veja (in Portuguese). p. 53.
  11. ^ "OceanAir agora é Avianca" (in Portuguese). Avianca. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Will an Azul-TAP partnership skew the alliance dynamics in Brazil as Avianca Brazil joins Star?". CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ^ Leiro, Roberto. "Avianca Brasil Joins Star Alliance". Airways News. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Avianca Brazil". Airliner World (December 2016): 17. 25 November 2016.
  15. ^ a b Richard Pedicini (12 December 2018). "Avianca Brasil Files for Bankruptcy". AIN online.
  16. ^ "Brazilian airline Avianca Brasil declares bankruptcy". The Jakarta Post. 12 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Azul proposes fresh bid for Avianca Brazil assets | News | Flight Global".
  18. ^ "Azul desiste de oferta pela Avianca Brasil e acusa rivais de protecionismo". G1 (in Portuguese). 18 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Gol e Latam arrematam direitos de vôo da Avianca em leilão". G1 (in Portuguese). 10 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Avianca Brasil to Exit Star Alliance". Star Alliance. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Avianca Brasil tem falência decretada pela Justiça". G1.globo.com (in Portuguese). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Avianca Costa Rica | Book Flights and Save". www.alternativeairlines.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  23. ^ "Avianca Holdings: United Air partnership and Synergy infusion raise more questions than answers". CAPA. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  24. ^ "UPDATE 3-Avianca's majority shareholders arrested in Brazil on accusations of corruption". Reuters. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  25. ^ "Avianca: Mapa de rotas" (in Portuguese). Avianca Brasil. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Avianca Update" (in Portuguese). Avianca Brasil. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  27. ^ "Profile on Avianca Brazil". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  28. ^ "Nuovo code share per Alitalia, accordo con Avianca Brasil" [New codeshare agreement for Alitalia with Avianca Brazil]. ttgitalia.com (in Italian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  29. ^ Dron, Alan (17 June 2016). "Etihad, Avianca Brasil ink new codeshare". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Avianca Brasil Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  31. ^ "Airbus A318 Production List". planespotters.net. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  32. ^ "OceanAir Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  33. ^ "OceanAir fleet". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  35. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  36. ^ João Machado. "Interview: Written-Off Fokker 100 to Become Pan Am-Themed Restaurant". Airlinegeeks.com. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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