From Varig to Avianca, remember airlines that ended operations in Brazil

ITA (Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos) is not the first airline to face financial difficulties in Brazil. In the last 20 years, at least six companies have stopped operating in the country for similar reasons.

Itapemirim stands out for the brevity of its activities. The company began operating in June 2021, and caught thousands of passengers off guard with the announcement made in December, on the eve of the holiday season, that it would suspend its operation. The airline says it intends to resume flights “soon”.

The company lived with delays in employee salaries and benefits, suspension of the workers’ health plan, debts with suppliers, non-compliance with schedules, flight cancellations, service criticized by customers and sending wrong data on the number of passengers to ​Anac ( National Civil Aviation Agency).

Activity that requires a large volume of capital, it is not uncommon for airlines to face financial difficulties. Remind companies that have gone out of business.

Lasting

One of the most striking bankruptcy cases in the Brazilian airline industry was that of Varig. Founded in 1927, it became the main company in Brazil — and one of the largest in the world.

However, from the 1990s onwards, Varig began to show losses on its balance sheet after the entry of new foreign companies.

In the early 2000s, TAM’s rise and GOL’s entry into the market intensified competition in domestic aviation.

In 2005, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and, two years later, it was sold to GOL. Varig’s bankruptcy was decreed in 2010.

Vasp

Vasp (Viação Aérea São Paulo) was founded in 1933 by a group of businessmen from São Paulo, nationalized in 1935 and privatized in 1990.

Like Varig, the company also entered the 2000s experiencing financial difficulties. With debts accumulating and a fleet scrapped, Vasp filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005. Three years later, bankruptcy was declared.

Transbrasil

One of the biggest names in the Brazilian airline industry in the 1980s and 1990s, Transbrasil also succumbed to financial difficulties.

The company was declared bankrupt in July 2001, at the request of the General Electric Capital Corporation, which said it had not received payment on a debt of US$2.6 million related to aircraft and turbine leases.

Avianca Brazil

One of the most recent examples is that of Avianca Brasil, which ceased operating in the country in 2019. The company went into crisis the previous year, failing to pay lease contracts for aircraft and engines in its fleet.

The company, which had an 11% share of the domestic market, accumulated more than R$2.7 billion in debt and was declared bankrupt in July 2020.

Webjet

Webjet was created by financial market executives in 2004, but began operating only the following year. A few months after making the first flights, the company faced its first crisis and spent three days without operating any of its 26 segments.

In 2007, Webjet was purchased by the CVC tour operator, which sold the company to GOL in 2011. The following year, activities were closed.

BRA

The financial crisis was also what led BRA (Brasil Rodo Aéreo) to close its commercial operations.

Founded in 1999, the company operated for six years in the charter market until, in 2005, it started to make regular flights. However, two years later, the BRA asked ANAC (National Civil Aviation Agency) to suspend all its flights.

At the time, the company had 4.6% of the domestic market, and operated 315 monthly flights to 26 national and three international destinations. Currently, BRA is in the judicial reorganization process.