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| Founded | 1929 as NYRBA do Brasil 1930 as Panair do Brasil |
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| Commenced operations | 1930 | |||
| Ceased operations | 1965 | |||
| Hubs | Rio de Janeiro - Galeão Airport Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont Airport |
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| Fleet size | 24 (at the time of the shutdown) | |||
| Destinations | 60 locations in Brazil (41 of them in the Amazon region) and 16 abroad, as of May 1964 | |||
| Parent company | NYRBA (1929-1930) Pan American World Airways (1930-1961) Planejamento Guanabara (1961-1965) |
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| Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |||
| Key people | Ralph O'Neill (founder) Paulo de Oliveira Sampaio (CEO 1943-1955; 1961-1965) Mário Wallace Simonsen (owner 1961-1965) Celso da Rocha Miranda (owner 1961-86) Rodolfo da Rocha Miranda (owner and CEO 1986-present) |
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Panair do Brasil (or simply "Panair") is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.
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Panair do Brasil began operations on October 22, 1929, as NYRBA do Brasil S.A., a Brazilian subsidiary of NYRBA, Inc. (New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line), forerunner of Pan American. Both airlines were established by Ralph Ambrose O'Neill for the transportation of post and passengers using seaplanes between the United States, Brazil and Argentina, flying over the east coast of the continent.
NYRBA do Brasil came as an American competitive response to a service that had been provided by Germans since 1927. Starting that year, Condor Syndikat and later its successor Deutsche Luft Hansa explored the Brazilian market by establishing the subsidiary Syndicato Condor, and the Brazilian airline Varig.
Initially, O'Neill tried to purchase ETA – Empresa de Transporte Aéreo, a Brazilian airline which claimed to have exclusive concessions to fly within Brazil. The legality of the sale and purchase contract was questioned and the operation was aborted. O'Neill decided then to create his own Brazilian subsidiary, which would operate in partnership with NYRBA.
At that time, if a foreign airline wanted to operate in Brazilian territory, it was required to create a subsidiary. This allowed a fair competition between national and foreign carriers. Advised by politicians, O'Neill established NYRBA do Brasil. The creation of this subsidiary was authorized on October 15, 1929 and on January 24, 1930 its operations were authorized in all Brazilian territory, with extensions to Uruguay, Argentina, and the Guianas, pending on bi-lateral agreements. The first flight took-off from the Calabouço Airport (which in 1936 would be officially named Santos Dumont Airport) in Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires with intermediate stops on December 23, 1929, and in January 1930 it started flying between Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza with intermediate stops in Campos dos Goytacazes, Vitória, Caravelas, Ilhéus, Salvador, Aracaju, Maceió, Recife and Natal. The first successful cargo operation between Buenos Aires and Miami, a joint-venture with NYRBA, took place between February 19 and 25, 1930. In this operation, 8 different seaplanes were used.[1]
On April 30, 1930 NYRBA was sold to Pan American and, as a consequence, on November 21, 1930 the new owner of the subsidiary renamed NYRBA do Brasil as Panair do Brasil.
Regular passenger services began on March 2, 1931 with a flight between Belém and Rio de Janeiro, a journey that took 5 days. This service was later extended to Buenos Aires and the operations enhanced to the point that it took the same 5 days, with overnight stops in Fortaleza, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre.
Starting on 1933, Panair do Brasil, competing with Syndicato Condor established services to the interior of Brazil. Panair specialized itself in water-landing operations in the Amazon basin, whereas Condor invested in land operations using the route of Mato Grosso.
On 1937 Panair opened its own dedicated headquarters at Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro, a project inspired on the Pan American Seaplane Base and Terminal Building, in Miami, including not only passenger operations but also offices and hangars. It remained its headquarters until it was forced to cease its operations in 1965. Presently it houses the Third Regional Air Command of the Brazilian Air Force.
On October 1937 Panair received its first land planes, a Lockheed Model 10 Electra and started operations not restricted by water-landing. It was used on services to Belo Horizonte, locations in the state of Minas Gerais reaching later Goiânia and to São Paulo. New domestic services were continually opened to the point that in the 1940s, the airline had one of the most extensive domestic networks in the world, covering most of Brazil via the coast and inland, and the Amazon region.
As World War II ecloded, Panair gained a clear advantage in relation to its fiercest competitor, Syndicato Condor, controlled by German capital. Furthermore, since the newly created Ministry of Air Force did not have the capacity or technique to build and maintain air fields, by the Federal Decree-Law 3.462 of June 25, 1941, Panair was authorized to build, enhance and maintain the airports of Macapá, Belém, São Luís, Fortaleza, Natal, Recife, Maceió, and Salvador, which remain operational to the present day. They had crucial strategic importance in the defense of the South Atlantic and in the transportation logistics between Brazil and West Africa. The authorization lasted for 20 years.
NYRBA do Brasil/Panair do Brasil remained under full control of NYRBA/Pan American until 1942, when the latter sold a big portion of shares to Brazilian capital. On December 7, 1943 the participation of Pan American was further reduced to 58%. That same year Panair was authorized to fly to all South American countries.
Panair also innovated by starting on September 2, 1943 the first over-night service in Brazil: Rio/Belém with intermediate stops.
Shortly after the end of World War II, Panair seized the opportunity to grow further. On 1946, the majority of its shares - 52% - was in the hands of Brazilian nationals and thus satisfied one of the preconditions to operate abroad. The last lot of shares in the hands of Pan Am was sold in 1961. As such the Brazilian government granted to Panair the concession to operate services to Europe, being the only Brazilian airline with such a concession.
In March 1946 Panair received its first Lockheed 049 Constellation, being the first airline outside the United States to operate this aircraft. The first flight took-off on April 27, 1946 from Rio de Janeiro to Recife, Dakar, Lisbon, Paris and London. Panair was also the first international airline to land on the then newly-inaugurated London Heathrow Airport.
As Panair received further equipment flights to Madrid and Rome were inaugurated. In 1947 services were extended to Cairo and Istanbul, and in 1948 to Zurich and Frankfurt. The same year, services to Montevideo and Buenos Aires began. Santiago de Chile, Lima and Beirut were added in 1950 and Hamburg and Düsseldorf in 1954.
The airline gradually set a high standard for its customer services and for many years in Brazil the expression padrão Panair (Panair standard) was a synonym of excellence in aviation. In fact, the excellence was so well known at the time that years later its DC-8-33 appeared in a handful of movies, including the Italian-French co-production, Copacabana Palace (1962),[2] as well as the French productions La Peau Douce (1964),[3] and L'homme de Rio (1964).[4]
In 1953 Panair placed an order for 4 de Havilland Comet 2 with an option for further 2 Comet 3. Panair was the second airline to place an order to such aircraft, only behind BOAC. Those orders were canceled in 1954 due to flaws on the plane's original design.
In 1955 the unused funds of the Comet order were used to purchase 4 Douglas DC-7C, at that time the ideal aircraft for long-haul operations. The first arrived in 1957. In 1961 Panair purchased 4 Sud Aviation Caravelle, which entered into service in 1962, operating on domestic trunk routes.
In terms of agreements, between 1956 and 1958 Panair and Lóide Aéreo Nacional maintained an agreement to avoid harmful competition, in which the Brazilian territory was divided into areas of influence. The agreement also included leasing of aircraft. Between November 30, 1960 and 1965 Panair operated with TAP-Transportes Aéreos Portugueses the Voo da amizade (English: Friendship Flight), between São Paulo-Congonhas, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão and Lisbon, with stops in Recife and Sal, using a dedicated Douglas DC-7C aircraft bearing the names of both airlines, TAP flight numbers and crew of the two airlines. Only Brazilian and Portuguese citizens or foreigners with permanent residence in Brazil or Portugal could purchase tickets for those flights, which were extremely popular due to their low fares.
In 1961 Panair started operating the Douglas DC-8-33 to Europe. However, in spite of its excellent service, Panair faced increasing competition from other foreign state-run airlines. Addressing the situation, Panair formed an operational pool with Aerolíneas Argentinas, Alitalia, and Lufthansa.
Panair do Brasil was forced to cease operations abruptly on February 10, 1965, when the Brazilian military government, which seized power the year before, suspended its operational certification and allotted its international route concessions to Varig and domestic to Cruzeiro do Sul. In fact, that very night, the Douglas DC-8-33 scheduled to operate flight PB22, departing at 10:30 PM from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Recife, Lisbon, Paris-Orly and Frankfurt was immediately replaced by a Varig Boeing 707. There were no flight cancellations. The operation also involved the transfer of 3 of its Caravelles and 3 of its Catalinas to Cruzeiro do Sul, and 2 of its DC-8-33 to Varig. It is known today that Varig and Cruzeiro were aware of the government imminent decision the same morning and had some hours to prepare themselves.[5][6]
The sudden closure of Panair shock the country since its financial problems were not serious enough for the actions taken by the government. They were originated in other political factors, such as persecution of the military government to the bankers Celso da Rocha Miranda and Mário Wallace Simonsen, owners of Panair, a dispute between bankers to whom both Panair and Varig owed money, and the will of the military government to favor Varig.
On February 16, 1965 Panair was forced to declare bankruptcy because a debt of USD 62 million.[7]
The controversial decision to liquidate Panair so suddenly triggered a lengthy legal battle. On December 14, 1984, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court acknowledged that the airline had operated within regular technical and financial parameters when it was shut down and the Federal government was sentenced to pay reparations to its former owners and/or heirs. The forced bankruptcy was suspended on May 5, 1995, and now Panair seeks indemnizations from the Ministry of Justice.
On August 27, 2009, with a 44-year delay, the Air Command of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence revoked Panair's route and schedule concessions,[8] which are madatory for airline operations.
Former employees of Panair do Brasil, their families and friends attend an annual reunion on the week of October 22, the airline's birthday, in Rio de Janeiro. This tradition has been religiously preserved since 1966 and there is a movement to include it in the Guinness World Records.[9]
In 2008 the documentary Panair do Brasil was released.[10] The film, directed by Marco Altberg and screenwritten by Daniel Sasaki summarises the history of the airline.
| Aircraft | Total | Years of Operation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Commodore | 7 | 1930–1940 | |
| Sikorsky S-38 | 6 | 1930–1938 | |
| Lockheed Air Express | 1 | 1930-1930 | |
| Fairchild XA-942A | 2 | 1935–1944 | |
| Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper | 7 | 1936–1947 | |
| Lockheed Model 10 Electra | 2 | 1937–1943 | |
| Douglas DC-2 | 2 | 1941–1942 | |
| Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar | 14 | 1941–1947 | |
| Douglas DC-3 | 23 | 1945–1965 | |
| Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior | 2 | 1945–1946 | |
| Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation | 14 | 1946–1965 | |
| Consolidated PBY-5A/6A Catalina | 8 | 1948–1965 | 3 to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1965 |
| Douglas DC-7C | 6 | 1957–1965 | |
| Douglas DC-6A | 4 | 1959–1961 | |
| Douglas DC-8-33 | 4 | 1961–1965 | 2 to Varig in 1965 |
| Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R | 4 | 1962–1965 | 3 to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1965 |
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