Brasil Central Linhas Aéreas was a Brazilian airline founded in 1976 as VOTEC Serviços Aéreos Regionais. In 1986 its name was changed to Brasil Central Linhas Aéreas and in 1990 to TAM – Transportes Aéreos Meridionais. In 2000 it was merged into TAM – Transportes Aéreos Regionais, creating TAM Linhas Aéreas.

History

On November 11, 1975 the Brazilian Federal Government created the Brazilian Integrated System of Regional Air Transportation and divided the country in five different regions, for which five newly created regional airlines received a concession to operate air services. VOTEC Serviços Aéreos Regionais S/A was the fifth of those regional airlines to be made operational. Its services started on October 11, 1976 and its operational area comprised roughly parts of the Central-West,

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

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 Northeast regions of Brazil, specifically the states of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...

, and

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

, and parts of

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

and connecting services to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. VOTEC (Voos Tecnicos e Executivos) was originally an

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

company established in 1966 by Klaus Richard Hoelck. On February 17, 1976 the identity of VOTEC Táxi Aéreo was changed to VOTEC Serviços Aéreos Regionais S/A, a regional airline authorized to operate scheduled services. This airline grew quickly and in 1978 it served dozens of cities, operated off-shore air services on behalf of Petrobras, and mail services on behalf of Brazilian Post. In 1983 administration problems started, which eventually led to the reduction of the fleet to only three Fokker F27 in 1985, and finally, in January 1986, to the end of regular services. Sensing a good opportunity for growth on a still much regulated market, in June 1986 TAM – Transportes Aéreos Regionais (IATA code KK) acquired VOTEC, which was then renamed Brasil Central Linhas Aéreas. TAM and Brasil Central were both regional airlines and operated in different designated areas. They however operated as a consortium with integrated networks and fleet, with the most notable differences being the flight number IATA codes (whereas TAM had the IATA code KK, Brasil Central operated with the code JJ inherited from VOTEC), the different aircraft color schemes, and their designated areas of operation. On May 15, 1990, the Brazilian Government lifted restrictions of operational areas of regional airlines allowing them to fly anywhere in Brazil. As a consequence, Brasil Central was renamed TAM – Transportes Aéreos Meridionais, acquired the same color scheme of TAM (KK) but still maintained the IATA code JJ. In 2000 TAM (KK) was merged into TAM (JJ) and TAM (JJ) was renamed TAM Transportes Aéreos. The code JJ was maintained and the code KK was released back to IATA. Even though the line VOTEC/Brasil Central/TAM Meridionais (JJ) is technically the original line into which TAM Regionais (KK) was merged into, historically it is considered just the opposite, because TAM Regionais was culturally the airline which gave identity to the new entity born from the merger. Actually, the only remaining asset of the original airline is the IATA code.

Destinations

VOTEC/Brasil Central/TAM Meridionais served the following cities: *

Aragarças Aragarças is a municipality in southwest Goiás state, Brazil. Location Aragarças is the most important town in the Aragarças Microregion. It is 410 km from the state capital, Goiânia on the confluence of two important rivers, the Garça ...

Araguaína Araguaína () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state ...

–

Araguaína Airport Araguaína Airport is the airport serving Araguaína, Brazil. It is operated by Esaero. History The airport has been renovated and works included the ramp, runway, runway lighting, and the terminal building. Airlines and destinations Access ...

* Araxá – Romeu Zema Airport * Arraias – Arraias Airport * Balsas * Barra do Corda * Barreirinhas –

Barreirinhas Airport Barreirinhas Airport is the airport serving Barreirinhas, Brazil. Airlines and destinations Access The airport is located from downtown Barreirinhas. See also *List of airports in Brazil This is a list of airports in Brazil, sorted by ...

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

– Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport * Belo Horizonte – Pampulha/Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport *

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 * Campo Alegre de Goiás *

Canarana Canarana is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Bahia This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Bahia (BA), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Bahi ...

– Canarana Airport * Cândido Mendes * Carolina – Brig. Lysias Augusto Rodrigues Airport * Carutapera *

Conceição do Araguaia Conceição do Araguaia is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin A ...

– Conceição do Araguaia Airport *

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 ...

– Marechal Rondon International Airport * Cururupu * Dianópolis *

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 * Grajaú * Guimarães * Imperatriz – Pref. Renato Moreira Airport *

Ituiutaba Ituiutaba (Brazilian Portuguese: /itujuˈtabɐ/) is a municipality in the western part of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Elevated to city status in 1901, its population in 2020 was 105,255 and a total area in the municipality of 2,694 km2. Th ...

Itumbiara Itumbiara is a municipality in the extreme south of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Its population in 2020 was of 105,809 in a total area of 2,461,3 km2 (2020). Itumbiara is one of the most prosperous cities in Goiás and is a major producer ...

* Marabá – Marabá Airport * Nova Xavantina * Parnaíba – Prefeito Dr. João Silva Filho International Airport * Passos * Pinheiro * Poços de Caldas – Poços de Caldas Airport *

Porto Nacional Porto Nacional is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Tocantins. The population was 53,316 (2020) in an area of , including both rural and urban areas. Location It is located approximately in the center of the state at a distance of 60 k ...

– Porto Nacional Airport *

–

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 ...

* São Bento * São José do Xingu * São Luís – Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport * São Miguel do Araguaia *

–

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 ...

* São Simão * Santa Isabel do Morro *

Santa Terezinha Santa Teresinha is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin Ameri ...

– Santa Terezinha Airport * Suiá-miçu *

Tucuruí Tucuruí is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil. The city is served by Tucuruí Airport. The name Tucuruí is a Tupi word that means "river of ants" or "river of locusts". It's the concatenation of two tupi word ...

– Tucuruí Airport * Turiaçu * Tutóia *

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

Fleet

Airline affinity program

VOTEC did not have an airline affinity program. Brasil Central and TAM Meridional were part of TAM Regional Frequent Flyer program Programa Fidelidade.

Accidents and incidents

Accidents (as VOTEC)

*30 March 1980: a Britten Norman BN-2A-9 Islander registration PT-JSC stalled and crashed upon take-off of

. All 9 occupants died. *24 February 1981: an Embraer EMB110P Bandeirante registration PT-GLB flying from

to Belém-Val de Cans collided with a ship in dry dock while approaching Belém in rain and high winds. The aircraft subsequently struck two barges and broke in two. The front part crashed onto a tug, and the tail section sank. Only 3 passengers of a total of 14 passengers and crew survived. *18 April 1984: two

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 ...

registrations PT-GJZ and PT-GKL collided on air, while on approach to land at Imperatriz. PT-GJZ was flying from São Luís to Imperatriz and crashed on ground killing all of its 18 passengers and crew. PT-GKL was flying from Belém-Val de Cans to Imperatriz and its pilot was able to make an emergency landing on Tocantins river. One passenger of its 17-passenger and crew died.

Incident (as TAM Meridional)

*26 August 1993: a Cessna 208A Caravan I registration PT-OGN was hijacked and set on fire after landing at

Sinop Sinop can refer to: * Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea ** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018 ** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port *** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...

. There were no victims.

References

External links

VOTEC accidents as per Aviation Safety DatabaseTAM Meridionais accidents as per Aviation Safety Darabase

Brasil Central Photo Archive at airliners.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brasil Central Linhas Aereas Defunct airlines of Brazil Airlines established in 1976 Airlines disestablished in 2000 1976 establishments in Brazil