Aviation
Commercial /
Brazil
Courageous approach
Itapemirim, a new Brazilian airline, plans international flights despite the crisis
A320
Reprodução/Facebook Itapemirim
Gabriela Ramos
5/21/2021
The president of Itapemirim, Sidnei Piva, is confident that this is the ideal time for the company's debut in the aviation sector, despite the serious crisis that the market faces in this pandemic moment.
The goal of opening an airline in the current scenario and in the midst of a judicial reorganization would already be ambitious, but it goes even further: the idea is that, in addition to domestic travel, the company will also start operating international flights from 2023.
The company's first tickets will go on sale on May 21, and the first trip will be on June 29.
"I am looking to remove this low-cost label, but we will not have the most expensive price either," said Piva.
The company will initially operate at eight airports in the cities of Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo (Guarulhos), Rio de Janeiro (Galeão), Salvador, Porto Seguro, Brasília and Belo Horizonte (Confins).
Initially, Itapemirim wishes to operate a total of 50 aircraft, all of which are Airbus, of which ten are A319s and forty are A320s. The planes will be delivered by June 2022. The models acquired by the company are not new, and the average age of the fleet is 5 years. According to Piva, the goal is for the fleet to be renewed as the company expands.
Piva also hopes that soon the company will start operating at more airports: "by law, new entrants to the aviation market are entitled to slots and, with the new space distribution scheduled for October, it is inevitable that ITA will be among the companies that are going to get these slots, ”he said.
The company received, according to Piva, a financing of R $ 2.6 billion from two investment funds from the United Arab Emirates, but the names of the funds are confidential for contract reasons.
Itapemirim's recovery in the road sector was approved by 97% of creditors, according to Piva. "We have the autonomy to continue investing and ensure that we will be able to honor our commitments," he said. However, EXM Partners, the company's judicial administrator, published a report in January stating that there is a "significant delay in audit reviews" Piva says, however, that the company has resolved matters related to the plan and ensures compliance with deadlines, in addition to certifying that all debts are being paid in full.
Sacha Verheij/Unsplash
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Gabriela Ramos
Gabriela is the latest addition to the editorial team of our website, having provided us with her solid background in editing, publishing and photography, and her interest and training in aviation history and historiography. His good taste and common sense and great cleverness and sagacity in the selection of themes and materials greatly enriched our vocabulary and narrative style. Gabriela brought unusual predicates and came to stay, helping to point the way of success of our portal.
   
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