Pantanal Linhas Aéreas S.A. was a regional

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

based in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and incorporated by

TAM Linhas Aéreas LATAM Airlines Brasil, formerly TAM Linhas Aéreas, is the Brazilian brand of LATAM Airlines Group and one of the largest airlines in the country. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 201 ...

in 2013. It served destinations mainly in the southeast region of Brazil from its bases at

Congonhas Congonhas (Congonhas do Campo until 1948) is a historical Brazilian city located in the state of Minas Gerais. It is situated south from Belo Horizonte, the capital of state of Minas Gerais, by the highway BR-040. As of 2020, the city had a popul ...

and Guarulhos airports in São Paulo.

History

The origins of Pantanal Linhas Aéreas are in Pantanal Taxi Aéreo, an air taxi company created in 1989 in

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour o ...

, Mato Grosso do Sul. This company, operating regular charter flights, provided convenient connections of cities in the Central-West Region of Brazil with flights of

, which also provided two of the three

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

of the fleet. In fact, as TAM Linhas Aéreas grew and dropped services to smaller cities, Pantanal became a viable solution for connectivity. In 1990 the Brazilian Government partially deregulated the market and changed its airline concession policies, allowing the creation of new airlines. At this point Marcos Sampaio Ferreira decided to transform his air taxi company into a regular airline with operations independent from those of TAM Linhas Aéreas. The leased Bandeirantes were returned to TAM and in 1992 the first Embraer EMB 120 Brasília was received. With new aircraft and a new logo identity, depicting a

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...

locally known as tuiuiú, regular flights started on April 12, 1993. It became the first Brazilian airline to introduce the ATR 42 aircraft in December 1993. In 1995 it won a government concession for transportation of Petrobras employees and cargo through the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

region. With growing services, in 1996 Pantanal transferred its maintenance base from

to Curitiba-Bacacheri, which at the time became its hub. The same year, in partnership with Total and Interbrasil STAR Pantanal created the shuttle service between Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and Belo Horizonte-Pampulha. The year ended with 18 destinations being served. One of the consequences of the fast growth of Pantanal was the change of its logo which, starting in 1997 depicted two arrows and not anymore a Jabiru. The intention was to leave behind the idea of a purely regional carrier. The same year also brought a big blow to the operations of Pantanal: the

National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil The National Civil Aviation Agency (''Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil'' in Portuguese), also known as ANAC, is the Brazilian civil aviation authority, created in 2005. It is headquartered in the Edifício Parque Cidade Corporate in Brasília ...

closed Curitiba-Bacacheri Airport for regular flights. Pantanal had developed a hub and established its maintenance base at this facility. Having no other choice, Pantanal transferred its base to

São Paulo-Congonhas Airport SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

and changed its market focus to the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and South regions of Brazil, eliminating destinations and increasing frequencies among the remaining. Since

ceased to operate purely regional flights, in December 1998 Pantanal and TAM established feeding and code-share agreements for the second time. Services were concentrated at

using the airline's precious slots at this airport. Those agreements were suspended in 2001 due to the death of Rolim Amaro, president of TAM and a friend of the president of Pantanal, and to the economic crisis that followed thereafter. Pantanal never regained economic stability and the crisis reached the limit in the beginning of 2009 when Pantanal applied for judicial reorganization to the Commercial Bankruptcy and Reorganization Court in São Paulo. Pantanal continued to provide services despite its financial troubles. Redemption came once again via TAM Linhas Aéreas: taking into account their long-lasting partnership and particularly the slots of Pantanal at São Paulo-Congonhas airport, on December 21, 2009, TAM Linhas Aéreas purchased Pantanal Linhas Aéreas. At that time, TAM decided to maintain Pantanal as a separate airline within the TAM Group integrated into its network. The base of the ATR 42 aircraft was changed to São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport and Pantanal slots at Congonhas were used by "TAM flights operated by Pantanal." In 2010 IATA changed the designator of Pantanal Linhas Aéreas from P8 to GP. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) in August 2010 Pantanal had 0.20% of the domestic market share in terms of passengers per kilometre flown. Starting September 2010, Pantanal ceased to appear independently on statistics and its data were integrated into the ones of TAM Group, which then comprised TAM Linhas Aéreas and Pantanal Linhas Aéreas. Starting August 1, 2011, all Pantanal flights were operated on behalf of TAM using equipment leased from TAM and finally, on March 26, 2013, Brazilian authorities approved the incorporation of all Pantanal assets by TAM and Pantanal ceased to exist. The incorporation process was finalized on August 23, 2013.

Destinations

Pantanal Linhas Aéreas operated scheduled services to the following destinations: * Araçatuba – Dario Guarita Airport *

Araraquara Araraquara ( or ) is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 250.314 (2022 est.) in an area of . It is also known as "the abode of the sun," because of its impressive sunset and because of its hot atmosphere, especially in su ...

– Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport *

Assis Assis is a city and a municipality in the southwestern part of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 105,087 (2020 est.) in an area of 460.61 km. The town was founded on July 5, 1905, and became a municipality in 1917, when it ...

– Marcelo Pires Halzhausen Airport *

Barretos Barretos is a municipality in the northern part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city has approximately 122,833 inhabitants (IBGE/2020) and an area of 1566.1 km². Barretos belongs to the Mesoregion of Ribeirão Preto. History The ...

– Chafei Amsei Airport *

Bauru Bauru () is a Brazilian municipality in midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. It is the main city of the mesoregion and microregion of Bauru. The population is 379,297 (2020 est.) in an area of 667.68 km². Established in 1896, ...

Bauru Airport Comandante João Ribeiro de Barros Airport is an airport serving Bauru, Brazil. History The airport was built in 1939. On 23 October 2006 with the opening of Bauru-Arealva Airport, Moussa Nakhl Tobias Airport, located in the adjoining municip ...

** Moussa Nakhl Tobias Airport (Bauru/Arealva) * Belo Horizonte ** Pampulha/Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport ** Pres. Tancredo Neves International Airport (Confins) *

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

– Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport * Caldas Novas – Nélson Ribeiro Guimarães Airport *

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

–

Viracopos International Airport Viracopos – Campinas International Airport (sometimes referred to as São Paulo/Campinas or São Paulo/Viracopos) is an international airport serving the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil. On 6 January 1987, the airport name ...

– Campo Grande International Airport *

Caravelas Caravelas is a city of about 20,000 inhabitants in southern Bahia, Brazil, a few miles above the mouth of the Caravelas River. Caravelas was founded in 1581 by Portuguese settlers. It was once the centre of a flourishing whale fishery. It is the ...

– Caravelas Airport * Caxias do Sul – Hugo Cantergiani Airport *

Corumbá Corumbá is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 425 km northwest of Campo Grande, the state's capital. It has a population of approximately 112,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly on agriculture, anima ...

– Corumbá International Airport *

Criciúma Criciúma is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials in ...

Forquilhinha Forquilhinha is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. In 2020, it had a population of 27,211 inhabitants. It covers an area of 184.557 km² at an altitude of 42 meters above sea level. It is the native town of cardinal Paulo Eva ...

–

Diomício Freitas Airport Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport previously SBCM, is the airport serving Criciúma, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of Forquilhinha. It is named after Diomício Manoel de Freitas (1911-1981), a local entrepreneur and politicia ...

Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city ...

– Mal. Rondon International Airport *

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

Afonso Pena International Airport Afonso Pena International Airport is the main airport serving Curitiba, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of São José dos Pinhais. It is named after Afonso Pena (1847–1909), the 6th President of Brazil. It is operated by CCR. ...

** Bacacheri Airport *

Dourados Dourados is a Brazilian municipality, situated in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Southwest of Campo Grande (the state's capital). It has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture (particu ...

– Francisco de Matos Pereira Airport * Florianópolis –

Hercílio Luz International Airport Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport , branded ''Floripa Airport'', is the airport serving Florianópolis, Brazil. It is named after Hercílio Pedro da Luz (1860–1924), three times governor of the state of Santa Catarina and se ...

* Fortaleza –

Pinto Martins International Airport Fortaleza-Pinto Martins International Airport is the international airport serving Fortaleza, Brazil. It is named after ''Euclides Pinto Martins'' (1892–1924) a Ceará-born aviator, who in 1922 was one of the pioneers of the air-link between ...

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (''Iguazu River Mouth'') () is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. The city is the 7th largest in the state of Paraná. The city's population is approximately 258,000. It is approximately 650 km (400 mi) wes ...

– Cataratas International Airport *

Franca Franca is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northeastern portion of the state, distant 401 km (249 mi) from the state capital (São Paulo), and 676 km (420 mi) from Brasilia. It covers a total area of ...

– Ten. Lund Presetto Airport *

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

–

Santa Genoveva Airport Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

Governador Valadares Governador Valadares is a Brazilian municipality in the countryside of Minas Gerais. In 2020, its population was 281,046 inhabitants, thus being the ninth most populated city in the state. It is an economical axis of the middle valley of the Doce R ...

– Cel. Altino Machado de Oliveira Airport *

Ilhéus Ilhéus () is a major city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil, 211 km south of Salvador, the state's capital. The city was founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the most important touris ...

– Jorge Amado Airport *

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a municipality in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The city was founded on 29 April 1964 and covers a total area of . Its population is 267,333 as of 2021. It is part of the Vale do Aço (Steel Valley) metropolitan area (populati ...

– Usiminas Airport * João Pessoa – Pres. Castro Pinto International Airport *

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (, '' Outsider Judge''), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro. According to 2020 estimates the current population is about 57 ...

– Francisco Álvares de Assis Airport (Serrinha) * Lins – Gov. Lucas Nogueira Garcez Airport *

Marília Marília () is a Brazilian municipality in the midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. Its distance from the state capital São Paulo is by highway, by railway and in a straight line. It is located at an altitude of 675 meters. The popula ...

– Frank Miloye Milenkowichi Airport * Maringá – Sílvio Name Júnior Regional Airport *

Mucuri Mucuri is a city in the state of Bahia in Brazil. The estimated population in 2020 is 42,251 inhabitants. It is the southernmost city in Bahia as well as Brazil's Northeast region, and the only one from that state to border Espírito Santo E ...

– Max Feffer Airport *

Paranaguá Paranaguá (''Great Round Sea'', in Tupi) is a city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. Founded in 1648, it is Paraná's oldest city. It is known for the Port of Paranaguá, which serves as both the sea link for Curitiba, to the west and the ca ...

–

Santos Dumont Airport Santos Dumont Airport is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932). It is operated by Infraero. Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operati ...

Ponta Porã Ponta Porã is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Its population is 93,937 (2020) and its area is 5,329 km2. It has a dry border and a conurbation with the city of Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay. Ponta Po ...

–

Ponta Porã International Airport Ponta Porã International Airport is the airport serving Ponta Porã, Brazil. During a transitional period, the airport is jointly operated by Infraero and AENA. History The airport was commissioned on March 11, 1955. Previously operated by In ...

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

–

Salgado Filho International Airport Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport is the airport serving Porto Alegre and the region of Greater Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is named after the Senator and first Minister of the Brazilian Air Force Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho (1888� ...

Porto Seguro Porto Seguro (, Safe Harbor in English), is a city located in the far south of Bahia, Brazil. The city has an estimated population of 150,658 (2020), covers , and has a population density of 52.7 residents per square kilometer. The area that inc ...

–

Porto Seguro Airport Porto Seguro Airport is the airport serving Porto Seguro, Brazil. It is operated by Sinart. History The airport was commissioned in 1982 but in 1997 brand new passenger terminal and apron were opened. Porto Seguro is one of the most popular de ...

* Presidente Prudente – Presidente Prudente Airport *

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

– Guararapes/Gilberto Freyre International Airport *

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wit ...

– Dr. Leite Lopes Airport *

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

** Galeão/Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport **

* Rio Verde – Gal. Leite de Castro Airport *

Rondonópolis Rondonópolis (formerly known as Rio Vermelho (Red River)) is the third-largest municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is located around from Cuiabá, the capital of the state. The city is named for military officer and explorer Cândido Rondon ...

– Maestro Marinho Franco Airport *

Salvador da Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisi ...

– Dep. Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport *

São José do Rio Preto São José do Rio Preto () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located at the northwest portion of the state, 440 km (273 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 700 km (435 mi) from Brasília. As o ...

– Prof. Eribelto Manoel Reino Airport *

Congonhas Airport Congonhas (Congonhas do Campo until 1948) is a historical Brazilian city located in the state of Minas Gerais. It is situated south from Belo Horizonte, the capital of state of Minas Gerais, by the highway BR-040. As of 2020, the city had a popul ...

** Guarulhos/Gov. André Franco Montoro International Airport * Sorocaba – Bertram Luiz Leupolz Airport *

Teresina Teresina is the capital and most populous municipality in the Brazilian state of Piauí. Being located in north-central Piauí 366 km from the coast, it is the only capital in the Brazilian Northeast that is not located on the shores of t ...

– Sen. Petrônio Portella Airport *

Uberaba Uberaba () is a city in the state of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Highlands at above sea level on the Uberaba River, and away from the state capital, Belo Horizonte. The city status was granted in 1856, and i ...

– Mário de Almeida Franco Airport *

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest municipality in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the fo ...

– Ten. Cel. Av. César Bombonato Airport * Urubupungá (Ilha Solteira) *

Varginha Varginha is a municipality in southwest Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Varginha stands out as one of the major centers of commerce and coffee production in Brazil and the world. The city is a center for export of coffee draining most of the productio ...

– Major-Brigadeiro Trompowsky Airport *

Videira Videira is a city in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil. The estimated population in 2020 was 53,610 inhabitants. The city is called "Capital do Vinho" (The Wine Capital) in reference to the production of this alcoholic drink. In the past, Vi ...

– Ângelo Ponzoni Airport *

Vilhena Vilhena is the easternmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Its population was 102,211 (IBGE-2020) and its area is 11,519 km2. – IBGE It is the fifth-largest city in Rondônia and has the best HDI in the state (0,771 – ...

– Brig. Camarão Airport

Fleet

Airline affinity program

Between 2009 and 2013 Pantanal was part of TAM Fidelidade, the affinity program of

References

External links