Tag Archives: Guarulhos

Gol explores the option of flying to Africa

Gol Transportes Aereos (Sao Paulo) is exploring the possibility of adding a new route to Lagos, Nigeria. The airline issued this short statement:

“Gol is studying the possibility of opening a new route between Brazil and Nigeria, in Africa. The new flight would be operated by Gol’s standard fleet of Boeing 737 NG.”

Gol Female Pilots (gol)(LR)

Copyright Photo Above: Gol. Not to be overlooked, on March 8, 2013 in order to celebrate International Women’s Day, Gol completed a domestic flight totally with a female crew. Fernanda Prieto, commander (left); Deise Cristiane (right), copilot (above); Andrea Duderstadt, head of cabin and flight attendants Onalice Gama, Suellen Lisandra and Patricia Ferreira (below) represented women in Brazilian aviation.

Top Copyright Photo:ย Marcelo F. DeBiasi/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 737-85F WL PR-GIO (msn 30477) arrives at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

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American Airlines asks the bankruptcy court for more time to reorganize

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and its unsecured creditors committee according to this Reuters report have asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court “to extend the period during which creditors cannot pursue their own restructuring plans for the airline to April 15. That replaced a January request to extend the time to April 1.”

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Meanwhile American continues its merger discussions with US Airways.

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato. As reported yesterday, brand new Boeing 777-323 ER N718AN (msn 41665) completed its first revenue flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Sao Paulo (Guarulhos). The first arrival yesterday at Sao Paulo is captured in this historic photo. N718AN also displays the new 2013 color scheme and new brand for the company.

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Gol shuts down Webjet today

Gol Linhas Aรฉreas Inteligentes S.A. (Gol Transportes Aereos) (Sao Paulo) has announced as of today (November 23), it will begin the process of winding up the activities of its subsidiary Webjet Linhas Aereas (Rio de Janeiro) and the discontinuation of its name and brand. The airline was grounded today.

The group continued in its statement; “The first step is to extinguish flight operations. Webjet has an operational model based on a fleet that mostly consists of aging Boeing 737-300 aircraft that are advanced age, technologically out of date and consume large amounts of fuel. Given the Brazilian sectorโ€™s new cost standards, this model is no longer competitive.

As a result of the winding up of operations, around 850 employees, including flight and cabin crew and maintenance personnel, will be laid off.

Webjetโ€™s clients and passengers will be fully served by Gol and their flights will be guaranteed. As of this date, Gol will be responsible for all air transport and associated services for these passengers. In this context, all the necessary measures are been taken.

As a result of this decision and its consequences, the Company estimates a non-recurring increase in costs in the fourth quarter of 2012, which will be disclosed to the market opportunely. However, the measures will improve operational efficiency as of 2013.

In relation to Webjetโ€™s Boeing 737-300 fleet, Gol estimates that it will return all 20 aircraft by the end of the first half of 2013, 16 of which in the first quarter.

Thanks to the smaller fleet, Gol expects to reduce its domestic supply (ASK) by between 5% and 8% year-on- year in the first half of 2013, underlining its commitment to recovering its operating margins and the sustainability of the business.”

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. Boeing 737-33A PR-WJW (msn 27267) climbs away Guarulhos Airport near Sao Paulo.

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Gol reduces its third quarter net loss to $152.7 million

Gol Linhas Aereas Intelligentes (Gol Transportes Aereos) (Sao Paulo) reduced its third quarter net loss to $152.7 million.

Read the full report from Zacks: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. Boeing 737-8EH PR-GTF (msn 34279) in the special 10 Anos (10 Years) color schemes taxies at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

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Gol’s second quarter net loss widens to $354 million

Gol Linhas Aรฉreas Inteligentes S.A. (Gol Transportes Aereas and Webjet Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo) reported its second quarter net loss expanded to $354 million due to fuel costs and its debt service.

Read the full report from the airline (in Portuguese): CLICK HERE

Read the analysis by the WSJ: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato. “Smiles” is not the operative word at Gol’s headquarters with this financial ย report. Boeing 737-809 PR-GIT (msn 28403) approaches the Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) hub while promoting the in-house “Smiles” frequent flyer program (click on the photo for the full view and further information).

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Pluna’s seven Bombardier CRJ900s to be auctioned off

Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayasย (Montevideo) operated seven Bombardier CRJ900s. The government of Uruguay is planning to auction off the fleet to the highest bidder. The winning bidder will also have the first option to resume operations as the new flag carrier of Uruguay according to this report by Bloomberg.

Read the report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. Bombardier CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) CX-CRD (msn 15180) is pictured arriving at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

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Gol promotes its Smile frequent flyer program with a new logojet

Gol Transportes Aereos (Sao Paulo) this month has introduced this colorful “Smiles” logojet to promote its frequent flyer program. Customers can accrue miles in the program that can be redeemed for free trips, especially to new destinations like Miami (this aircraft will fly the weekly route to Miami). Passengers can also purchase extra miles up to 4,000 miles in order to speed up the redemption of their free tickets.

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato. Boeing 737-809 PR-GIT (msn 28403) taxies past the camera today at Sao Paulo (Gaurulhos).

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Pluna to be permanently shut down

Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayasย (Montevideo) will be shut down permanently according to a report by Reuters.

The government of Uruguay has decided to close down its bankrupt carrier after failing to find new investors to replace investment fund Leadgate which has pulled out. Uruguay assumed controlย over Pluna in June 2012 after Leadgate, which controlled a 75 percent stake, refused to contribute more capital according to Reuters.

The government is considering establishing a new flag carrier.

PLUNA (Primeras Lรญneas Uruguayas de Navegaciรณn Aรฉrea)ย was established in September 1936 and started operations on November 20, 1936.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. Pluna operated 13 Bombardier CRJ900s, each in an unique color and design.

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Pluna cancels all flights until tomorrow morning

Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayasโ€˜ (Montevideo) has cancelled all flights until tomorrow morning due to a work stoppage by its unions fearing that some positions may be eliminated. The flag carrier is facing a financial crisis and could soon file for bankruptcy. The strike and cancellations started late on July 3.

The airline issued the following list oc cancelled flights (in Spanish): CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi.ย 

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LAN acquires TAM, becomes the LATAM Airlines Group

LAN Airlines S.A. (Santiago) (which has been renamed LATAM Airlines Group S.A.) and TAM S.A. (Sao Paulo) on June 22 completed their exchange offer. The acquisition has created the LATAM Airlines Group S.A. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. will offer passengers more flights to more destinations than any other affiliated group of airlines in South America, initially reaching about 150 destinations in 22 countries and transporting cargo to 169 destinations in 27 countries.

As previously announced, the transaction was carried out through an exchange offer in which TAM’s shareholders could elect to exchange their TAM shares for LAN shares at a ratio of 0.9 LAN shares for each TAM share. The offered LAN shares will be delivered in the form of BDRs (Brazilian Depositary Receipts) in Brazil and ADRs (American Depositary Receipts) in the United States. The exchange offer, which was materialized with the auction on June 22, 2012, was subject to the condition that more than 2/3 of the TAM shares that participate in the offer agree with the deregistration of TAM as a public company in Brazil. This delisting condition was satisfied when 99.9% of the participant shares agreed with TAMโ€™s deregistration. The tendered shares together with the TAM shares committed by the TAM Controlling Shareholders represented 95.9% of the total outstanding shares of TAM.

According to this report by Reuters,ย LATAM Airlines will decide within the next six months which airline alliance it will stay with. Currently LAN is a member of the OneWorld alliance, while TAM belongs to Star Alliance.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero.

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Bottom Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi.