MAP Linhas Aéreas is a Brazilian domestic airline headquartered in Manaus, Amazonas, founded in 2011 and authorized to operate regular and non-regular charter flights within Brazil.[2]
According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2023, MAP Linhas Aéreas carried 117,912 passengers and had 0.1% of the domestic market share in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK),[3] making it the fifth largest domestic airline in Brazil.
History
Establishment
2010s
Founded in Manaus, Brazil, on May 18, 2011, the name of MAP Linhas Aéreas is the acronym of the first letters of the name of its founding company, Manaus Aerotáxi Participações, an air taxi and non-scheduled airline based at Eduardo Gomes International Airport. The new airline was founded due to the lack of air connectivity in the Brazilian Amazon region, where air transport plays an important role in connecting small cities to urban centers, in particular, Manaus.
MAP Linhas Aéreas received its air operator's certificate (CHETA, in Portuguese) from the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) on August 14, 2012, receiving the green light to begin regular operations.[4][5] That same year, it received its first three ATR 42-300 turboprop aircraft, registrations PR-MPN (MSN 020), PR-MPO (MSN 091) and PR-TTF (MSN 021), all acquired from TRIP Linhas Aéreas.[6][7] With the exception of the first two, the last one received never went into operation, serving as a source of spare parts to keep the other two active.
First years (2013-2019)
The first took place on March 4, 2013, connecting Manaus with Parintins and Lábrea, in Amazonas. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2013, MAP added two ATR 72-200s to the fleet, ending the year with four aircraft.
In the first half of 2014, the airline began its regional expansion, starting flights to Carauari, in Amazonas and later, on August 11, to Santarém, Itaituba, Altamira and Belém, in Pará.[8] It also adds a third ATR 72-200 to the fleet, through a commercial agreement signed with STAR Consultoria Aeronáutica, owner of the plane registration PP-STY (MSN 367).[9][10]
On October 9, 2016, MAP Linhas Aéreas presented its new visual identity and revised aircraft livery, according to the airline, with the aim of displaying a more Amazonian tone, in line with its operations.[12] The main change was in the tail of the planes, which instead of displaying the company's logo, started to adopt a design that incorporates elements from the North Region, including buildings such as the Amazon Theatre and the Ver-o-Peso Market, in addition to the flora, the fauna, cuisine and rivers of the Amazon.[13]
On April 5, 2017, MAP announced the start of the so-called "Rota da Soja" (Soy Route) in June, flying to Sorriso and Alta Floresta, in Mato Grosso.[14][15] However, for technical and logistical reasons, flights were not started.[16] In mid-September, it announced a destination and fleet expansion plan for 2018, considering launching flights to several destinations in the Northeast Region, in addition to international flights in South America, in neighboring countries in the North of Brazil.
On December 18, 2017, MAP Linhas Aéreas received the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certification, the most important safety and quality certificate in aviation.[17][18]
On February 14, 2019, received its third ATR-72 aircraft, registration PR-MPW (MSN 682), announcing its expansion plan by increasing the frequency of flights to existing destinations and expressing its intention to fly to its first international destination, the city of Puerto Maldonado, in Peru.[19]
Acquisition by Passaredo Linhas Aéreas (2019-present)
The fight for slots in São Paulo Congonhas Airport
On August 1, 2019, ANAC completed the provisional distribution process of Avianca Brasil's 41 daily departure and arrival times (slots) to operate on the main runway at Congonhas Airport, in São Paulo, with MAP obtaining 12 of them, behind Azul (15 slots) and Passaredo (14 slots).[22][23]
On March 18, 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, MAP Linhas Aéreas announced the temporary suspension of all its commercial flights with immediate effect, at least until March 22, when it planned to resume flights.[28] However, two days later, on March 20, he announced that the suspension would be indefinite, maintaining only its chartered flights for Petrobras.[29] After three months of suspension, on July 3, 2020, MAP Linhas Aéreas resumed its flights to 10 cities in the Amazon region, whose air transport is considered essential due to the lack of access by land.[30][31]
Attempted acquisition by GOL Linhas Aéreas
On June 8, 2021, aiming to expand its presence at Congonhas Airport and reinforce operations in the interior of the Amazon, GOL Linhas Aéreas formalized an agreement with VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas for the acquisition of MAP Linhas Aéreas for R$28 million (US$5.6 million), in addition to assuming the airline's financial commitments, at the time valued at R$100 million (US$20.1 million), subject to government approval.[32]
MAP Linhas Aéreas ATR 72 taking off
On January 3, 2022, Brazil's national competition regulator CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) approved without restrictions the acquisition of MAP by GOL Linhas Aéreas. At the time, according to the president of GOL, Paulo Kakinoff, MAP Linhas Aéreas would be absolved by GOL Linhas Aéreas and the brand would cease to exist.[33][34][35]
However, on April 26, 2023, the new president of GOL Linhas Aéreas, Celso Guimarães Ferrer, informed that the acquisition had not been completed, the reason was a new decree published by the Brazilian government at the end of 2022, which allowed airlines could sell their slots, without the need for an M&A (merger and acquisition) transition. Thus, the airline was studying the purchase of slots from VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas and no longer the operations of MAP Linhas Aéreas.[36][37]
Throughout its history, eight turboprops from the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR have been part of MAP Linhas Aéreas, six of them owned by the airline and two leased that were returned to their owners. The ATR 42-300s turboprops registrations PR-MPN (MSN 020) and PR-MPO (MSN 091) are unairworthy and abandoned on a lawn in front of apron 4 at Eduardo Gomes International Airport;[45] the other two, registrations PR-TTF (MSN 021) and PT-MFE (MSN 295), were dismantled and removed from the airport.
According to data from The Aviation Herald and Aviation Safety Network, since the beginning of its operations in 2013, MAP Linhas Aéreas has recorded only one accident and one serious incident, but without any serious injuries or fatalities.
On June 15, 2019, the ATR 42-300 registration PR-MPN (MSN 020), performing flight PAM-5914 that took off from Manaus to Carauari with 34 passengers and four crew, was climbing out when the crew needed to decide to return to the capital of Amazonas, performing a belly landing at Eduardo Gomes International Airport after suffering an electrical failure. Only two passengers suffered minor injuries during the evacuation and the turboprop was damaged beyond repair.[46][47][48]
On September 16, 2019, the ATR 72-200 registration PR-MPY (MSN 519), performing flight PAM-5913 from Itaituba to Manaus with 39 passengers and four crew members, had to return to the aerodrome of origin after the runway at Eduardo Gomes International Airport was closed due to an incident with another aircraft. During the final approach at Itaituba Airport, the left engine went out, followed by the right engine shortly after landing. According to the initial report from the Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA), the serious incident was classified as a out of fuel.[49][50][51] On December 29, 2023, CENIPA released the final report of the investigation, concluding that the out of fuel was caused by a failure that was not identified by the maintenance team and crew in the turboprop's fuel system, which led to the indication system of aircraft fuel not working properly, causing discrepancies between the amount shown on the cockpit indicators and the amount of fuel present in the tanks.[52]
