Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes – Wikipedia

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Brazilian low-cost airline

The airline’s previous logo used from 2001-2015

Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A (“Gol Intelligent Airlines S.A.” also known as VRG Linhas Aéreas S/A) is a Brazilian low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[4] According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2019 Gol had 37.7% of the domestic and 3.8% of the international market shares in terms of passengers per kilometer flown, making it the largest domestic and third largest international airline in Brazil.[5][6]

Gol competes in Brazil and other South American countries primarily with LATAM Brasil, and Azul. It also owns the brand Varig, although now that name refers to what is informally known as the “new” Varig, founded in 2006, not to the extinct “old” Varig airline, founded in 1927.

Gol operates a growing domestic and international scheduled network. Its main hubs are São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport and Tancredo Neves International Airport near Belo Horizonte. Gol also has focus operations at Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport, São Paulo-Congonhas Airport, Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre. Gol refers to itself as GOL Intelligent Airlines (GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes in Portuguese) as a slogan.[7] The company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as “GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A.”.[8]

The company’s name is a Brazilian Portuguese word borrowing from the English word “goal” from Association football.[9] The company slogan is Nova Gol. Novos tempos no ar. (in Brazilian Portuguese); New Gol, New times on air. (in English).

History[edit]

The Boeing 737-700 airplane used in GOL’s second commercial flight, showing the company’s brand.

The airline was established in 2000 and started operations on 15 January 2001 with a flight from Brasília to São Paulo.[10] It is a subsidiary of the Brazilian conglomerate Grupo Áurea, based in Minas Gerais state, which has other transportation interests, including Brazil’s largest long-distance bus company. Grupo Áurea in turn is owned by the Constantino family. Constantino Júnior was responsible for building the business next to the vice president of the company, David Barioni.[11][12]

In 2007, Gol was owned by AeroPar Participações (75.5%), Venture (17.6%), American International Group (5.4%) and Air France-KLM (1.5%).[13] The growth in GOL’s stock price made the Constantino family a member of the Forbes magazine billionaire list in 2005.

In 2007, Gol was supposed to begin a code-share agreement with TAP Portugal, opening the European market to the Brazilian airline, and the internal Brazilian market to the Portuguese airline (the largest foreign airline in Brazil). Instead, TAP Portugal chose to cooperate with TAM Airlines.[14]

On 24 February 2010 Gol announced it was in “advanced talks” to join the Oneworld alliance,[15] which would allow it to catch up with rival TAM, a recent member of Star Alliance. However, on 6 October 2010, the airline announced a change in position by denying any interest in joining an alliance, preferring to remain independent and to establish a “patchwork of code-sharing agreements.”.[16] Following this trend, on 28 September 2011 Gol and Aerolíneas Argentinas announced the intention to implement a codeshare, feeder and frequent flyer programs agreement on a date yet to be announced and pending approval from the governments of Brazil and Argentina.[17]

On 18 March 2010 Gol unveiled the expansion of its maintenance base located at Belo Horizonte/Confins – Tancredo Neves International Airport. Originally opened in 2006 with the capacity to service 60 aircraft per year (mainly Boeing 737 and 767), the expansion allowed Gol to increase the number to 120.[18] Gol later started also using the base to service aircraft from other airlines, and as of 2013 it also serviced airplanes from Azul Brazilian Airlines and Copa Airlines.[19][20]

On 23 December 2010, Gol Airlines started an operational partnership with Brazilian carrier Passaredo Linhas Aéreas. The agreement was rescinded on 31 July 2014, when Passaredo established a similar interline agreement with TAM Airlines instead.[21]

On 7 December 2011, Gol announced the intention of Delta Air Lines to purchase 3% of its shares.[22] The agreement also includes the creation of mutual code-share flights, alignment of frequent flyer benefits and transfer of GOL’s Boeing 767s lease agreements to Delta.[23]

On 1 October 2012, Gol confirmed a firm order of 60 Boeing 737 MAXs. References did not specify the type of MAX aircraft.[24][25]

On 6 October 2012, Gol started seasonal operations to Miami and Orlando, available for Smiles account holders and originating in Brazil only. Technically, they are considered charter flights, although they are not necessarily part of an inclusive tour package; the use of miles or miles plus money is mandatory, as well as a minimum 7-day stay at the destination.[26]

In February 2014, Air France–KLM announced it would invest $100 million in Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.[27]

Some disagreement exists as to whether Gol is a low-cost carrier. In 2014, Gol was ranked the second-best low-cost airline in South America after Azul.[28] Gol refers to itself as a low-cost carrier, but it is increasingly not regarded as such. According to UFRJ specialist Elton Fernandes, “GOL’s costs are not very different from those of TAM Airlines. People are accustomed to calling Gol low-cost, but Gol is not that. It is not even low-fare anymore.”.[29]

On 26 September 2019, Delta announced that it will exit its minority stake in GOL, following Delta acquiring 20% stake of LATAM Airlines Group.[30]

Celso Ferrer became the CEO of the Brazilian airline 1 July 2022.[needs update][31]

In March 2023, Gol reduce frequencies in Fortaleza as well as cancelled the Fortaleza airline’s hub.[32]

Purchase of Varig[edit]

On 28 March 2007 Gol officially purchased part of the assets of VARIG – VRG Linhas Aéreas, informally known as the “new Varig,” a new company that owned the Varig brand, for US$320 million from Volo Group and MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities hedge fund. At that time, the “old Varig” was under bankruptcy protection. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA posted a first quarter loss of 3.5 million Reais (2 million US dollars) after revenues of 1.6 billion Reais (one billion US dollars).

Gol announced that the Varig brand would continue doing business operating as such, rather than its official name VRG Linhas Aéreas.[33] The transaction, via its GTI subsidiary, required a US$98 million cash payment, with the balance through the allocation of non-voting shares to VARIG Logística and Volo, which had acquired VARIG in June 2006 for US$24 million.[34] The transaction did not involve the original airline, informally known as “old Varig,” which continued to exist until its own bankruptcy in mid-2010 under the name Flex Linhas Aéreas.

In 2009 Gol was merged into VRG Linhas Aéreas. VRG Linhas Aéreas thus became an airline that operates two brands: Gol and Varig, although in reality flights are operated only under Gol flight numbers. Initially, the Varig brand operated to medium-haul scheduled and charter international destinations within South America and to the Caribbean with Boeing 737-700’s configured in two classes, and to long-haul charter international destinations in North America, Europe and Africa with Boeing 767-300ERs configured in economy only. The latter were also used in wet-lease operations.[35] This scheme was later dropped. The brand Gol operates most of the flights of the network, and had aircraft configured in all-economy class, used for scheduled domestic and international operations within South America.

Because of contractual obligations, between 2006 and 2009 the “new Varig” (VRG Linhas Aéreas) was obliged to purchase a minimum of 140 hours/month of services from the “old Varig” (Flex Linhas Aéreas). Therefore, at that time, some of VRG Linhas Aéreas flights operated with Gol flight numbers but were actually flown with chartered aircraft from Flex Linhas Aéreas. The agreement ceased before the bankruptcy of Flex on 20 August 2010.[36]

Purchase of Webjet Linhas Aéreas[edit]

On 9 July 2011, VRG Linhas Aéreas, owner of the brands Gol and Varig, announced the intention to purchase full control of WebJet Linhas Aéreas.[37] The purchase contract was signed on 2 August 2011.[38] On 10 October 2012 the purchase received its final approval with some operational restrictions from the Brazilian regulatory agency.[39] Services were integrated but both companies continued to operate independently for some weeks.[40][41] Integration started on 17 October 2012 when sales requested via Webjet’s web-portal started to be redirected to GOL’s site.[42] However, on 23 November 2012 Webjet abruptly ceased to operate and all services were incorporated by GOL. The Webjet brand ceased to exist.[40][41] Gol also announced its intention to return all of Webjet’s Boeing 737-300s to lessors until the end of the first quarter of 2013. There was no mention to the fate of Webjet’s 737-800s.[43]

Partnership with TwoFlex[edit]

On 12 April 2019, Gol announced an adapted Essential Air Service partnership with TwoFlex in which the latter would operate feeder services on behalf of Gol in the States of Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso using the Cessna 208 Caravan. The flights are marketed by Gol in its reservation platform but operated by TwoFlex and integrated into the network of Gol. This partnership greatly increased the number of Gol destinations in these three States.[44] However, on 14 January 2020 Azul Brazilian Airlines signed an agreement to purchase Twoflex.[45] On 27 March 2020 the Brazilian regulatory bodies gave the nihil obstat to the purchase[46] and sale of flights started on 14 April 2020.[47] thus ending the partnership.

Purchase of MAP Linhas Aéreas[edit]

On 8 June 2021 Gol Linhas Aéreas announced the purchase of MAP Linhas Aéreas from Voepass Linhas Aéreas. The transaction included 26 slots at São Paulo–Congonhas Airport belonging to MAP and Voepass. MAP’s Amazonian operations and much of its fleet would be transferred to Voepass.[48]

Destinations[edit]

Codeshare agreements[edit]

Gol has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[49]

Current fleet[edit]

A Boeing 737 MAX 8 featuring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter special livery

As of February 2022[update], Gol operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, consisting of the following aircraft:[53][54]

Former fleet[edit]

Gol formerly operated the following aircraft:

Airline Affinity Program[edit]

Smiles is GOL/Varig’s Frequent-flyer program since 20 July 2006. Points can be used for services from GOL/Varig, and partners Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, American Airlines, Avianca, British Airways, Copa Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Iberia, KLM, Qatar Airways and TAP Air Portugal, including flights, upgrades, holidays, hotel stays and car rentals. Smiles was part of the “new Varig” package bought by GOL, which honored all miles and eventually became its own frequent-flyer program. Previously Gol had no such program.[citation needed]

On a study conducted in 2011, Smiles ranked third among 24 chosen frequent flyer programs, with 97.1% success of requests made.[61]

In 2013, Smiles was spun off as an independent company eventually leading to its IPO at BOVESPA in April 2013.[62][63]

Accidents and incidents[edit]

  • On 29 September 2006, Flight 1907, operated by a Boeing 737-800 SFP (Short Field Performance) registered as PR-GTD, disappeared from radar while flying over the central-western state of Mato Grosso en route from Manaus to Brasília and Rio de Janeiro-Galeão. The aircraft collided in mid-air with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet registered N600XL, near the town of Matupá, 470 miles (760 km) south of Manaus. The Gol aircraft broke up in mid-air and crashed in the Amazon jungle, leaving no survivors among its 154 occupants. The wreckage was found a day later. The Legacy jet landed safely at Cachimbo Airport, part of the Brigadeiro Velloso Test Range of the Brazilian Air Force, with damage to the tail and left winglet. As of 2021, Flight 1907 is the only fatal accident in the airline’s history.[64]
  • On 29 April 2022, a Gol Linhas Aéreas Boeing 737 registered as PR-GUO collided with an Azul Brazilian Airlines Embraer E195 while taxiing at Viracopos International Airport after landing from Santos Dumont Airport. Nobody was injured, with damage only caused to the 737’s left winglet and the E195’s tailcone.[65]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Empresas Aéreas – Consulta”. ANAC (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  2. ^ Gol. “Política de Privacidade”. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b “2021 Financial Statements”. Gol IR. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ 2010 CALENDÁRIO DE EVENTOS CORPORATIVOS Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.” Gol Transportes Aéreos. Retrieved on February 14, 2010. “Endereço da Sede: Praça Comandante Lineu Gomes, s/n, portaria 3, Aeroporto, CEP 04626-900 – São Paulo – SP”
  5. ^ “Política de Privacidade” (in Portuguese). 31 August 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  6. ^ “Relatório de demanda e oferta do transporte aéreo”. Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  7. ^ Home Page (International), Gol Transportes Aéreos. 4 January 2007. Retrieved on 14 June 2009.
  8. ^ “GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine,” NYSE Euronext
  9. ^ Clendenning, Alan (6 February 2005). “Brazilian airline flying high doing everything on the cheap”. Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Retrieved 26 February 2017. …Gol, which translates as ‘goal’ in both Portuguese and Spanish in soccer-crazed Latin America,…
  10. ^ “Editorial”. Revista Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (in Portuguese). April 2012. p. 12.
  11. ^ “David Barioni”. IstoE. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  12. ^ “Chamaram o piloto”. Exame. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  13. ^ “Directory: World Airlines”. Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 87.
  14. ^ “Agenzia stampa del settore aeronautico, elicotteristico, aerospaziale e della difesa”. Avionews. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  15. ^ “AMR in alliance talks with China Eastern-CFO”. Reuters. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  16. ^ Wisnefski, Stephen (6 October 2010). “Brazil’s GOL Doesn’t See Benefit of Joining Global Alliance”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  17. ^ Andrade, Artur Luiz (28 September 2011). “Gol e Aerolíneas Argentinas terão code-share” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  18. ^ Takar, Téo (18 March 2010). “Gol dobra capacidade do centro de manutenção de Confins” (in Portuguese). Valor Online. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  19. ^ “Centro de manutenção Gol Linhas Aéreas, em Confins” [Gol Linhas Aéreas Maintenance Center at Confins]. Falando de Viagem (in Portuguese). 23 July 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  20. ^ “Brazil MRO sector poised for major expansion”. Flightglobal. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  21. ^ “TAM nega interesse na Passaredo e anuncia acordo” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  22. ^ Komatsu, Alberto (7 December 2011). “Delta terá participação de 3% na Gol”. Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  23. ^ Seabra, Luciana (7 December 2011). “Gol e Delta firmam acordo comercial para compartilhar voos”. Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  24. ^ Bader, Tim (1 October 2012). “Gol anuncia nova compra de 60 jatos boeing 737 max”. g1. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  25. ^ Morgan, Adam (1 October 2012). “Boeing, GOL Announce order for 60 737 MAX Airplanes”. Boeing. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  26. ^ “Voos Smiles para os EUA” (in Portuguese). Gol. 14 September 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  27. ^ “Air France-KLM Partners with Brazilian Airline in Preparation for World Cup, Olympics”. Ground Report. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  28. ^ “Best Low-Cost Airlines in South America”. Skytrax. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  29. ^ “Gol passa a cobrar pelo refrigerante e pela batatinha”. Estadão (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  30. ^ Josephs, Phil LeBeau,Leslie (26 September 2019). “Delta is buying 20% of LATAM, Latin America’s largest airline”. CNBC. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  31. ^ “Brazilian airline Gol’s Ferrer to take over as CEO”. Reuters. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  32. ^ “hub-falho-e-limitado-gol-reduz-pela-metade-voos-em-fortaleza”. Diário Do Nordeste (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  33. ^ Former Brazilian Flagship Airline Bought 28 March 2007
  34. ^ Jackson Flores (3 April 2007). “Brazil’s Gol nets ailing Varig successor”. Flight International. p. 8.
  35. ^ Komatsu, Alberto (18 March 2010). “Varig vai a Europa e aos EUA com voo fretado” (in Portuguese). Valor Online. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  36. ^ Niemeyer, Felipe (20 August 2010). “Falência da Flex, Rio Sul e Nordeste: Trip deve assumir” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  37. ^ Bemfeito, Fabíola (8 July 2011). “Gol compra Webjet por R$311 milhões” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  38. ^ Komatsu, Alberto (3 August 2011). “Gol e Webjet assinam contrato de compra” (in Portuguese). Valor Online. Retrieved 3 August 2011.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ Máximo, Wellton (10 October 2012). “Cade aprova compra da Webjet mas impõe restrições à Gol” (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  40. ^ a b Andrade, Artur Luiz (11 July 2011). “Após aprovação da compra, Gol não usará marca Webjet” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  41. ^ a b Nogueira, Danielle (6 October 2012). “Último voo da Webjet está marcado para julho de 2013”. O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  42. ^ Teixeira Alves, Danilo (17 October 2012). “Integração entre Gol e Webjet começa pelo site” (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  43. ^ Aguilhar, Ligia (23 November 2012). “Gol anuncia encerramento das atividades da Webjet e demite 850” (in Portuguese). Editora Globo. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  44. ^ “GOL anuncia parceria com a TwoFlex para expansão de malha regional”. Gol Transportes Aéreos (in Portuguese). 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.[permanent dead link]
  45. ^ “Azul faz acordo para compra da Two Flex por R$ 123 milhões”. Panrotas (in Portuguese). 14 January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  46. ^ “CADE aprova a compra da ultra-regional TwoFlex pela Azul”. Aeroflap (in Portuguese). 27 March 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  47. ^ “Azul inicia venda de voos operados pela TwoFlex”. Panrotas (in Portuguese). 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  48. ^ “GOL terá todos os slots de MAP e Passaredo no Aeroporto de Congonhas”. Aeroin (in Portuguese). 8 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  49. ^ “Companhias Aéreas Parceiras”. Gol Linhas Aéreas. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  50. ^ “American Airlines announces partnership with Brazil’s GOL Airlines, beefs up Miami flights”. Miami Herald. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  51. ^ “Avianca and Gol confirm codeshare agreement”. CAPA. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  52. ^ “Turkish Airlines, Brazilian budget carrier GOL ink codeshare deal”. Daily Sabah. 19 April 2022.
  53. ^ “Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)”. Airliner World: 7. October 2019.
  54. ^ “GOL Transportes Aéreos Fleet Details and History”. 2 February 2022.
  55. ^ “Boeing: Commercial”. www.boeing.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  56. ^ “GOL Accelerates its Fleet Transformation from Boeing 737 NG to Boeing 737 MAX”. AVIATOR. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  57. ^ “GOL anuncia configuração interna para seus Boeing 737 MAX-8” (in Spanish). 29 March 2017.
  58. ^ Seet, Charlotte (29 August 2022). “Cool: GOL Now Has A Harry Potter Boeing 737”. Simple Flying. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  59. ^ “Brazil’s GOL takes first B737-800(BCF)”. Ch-Aviation. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  60. ^ “Revelado o primeiro avião cargueiro da história da Gol, que voará para o Mercado Livre”. Aeroin (in Portuguese). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  61. ^ “Value Airlines Offer Best Reward Seat Availability, British and United Improve Most Among Majors” (PDF). IdeaWorks. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  62. ^ “Smiles’ Investor Relations Website”. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  63. ^ Souza, Beatriz (29 April 2013). “Ações da Smiles sobem 9,2% em estréia na Bolsa” [Smiles’ stocks surge 9.2% in the first day at the stock exchange]. exame.com. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  64. ^ “Accident description N600XL and PR-GTD”. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  65. ^ Georgilidakis, Spyros (30 April 2022). “Ground Collision in Brazil – GOL 737 and Azul E135”. Mentour Pilot. Mentour Pilot. Retrieved 6 May 2022.

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