Avianca Brasil

A former OceanAir Fokker 100 taxiing at Afonso Pena International Airport in 2007

The airline was established on 30 June 1998 as an air taxi company to operate services for oil companies in the Campos Basin. Its name was then OceanAir and began to operate scheduled services in 2002, between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Macaé and Campos. Soon afterwards, it became better known to the public with a scheduled flight (no longer operated) connecting São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro via São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, enabling international passengers from both cities easy access to the country's largest international hub from those cities' more convenient central airports. At the time, OceanAir's fare between São Paulo's airports was cheaper than a taxi and on par with a luxury bus ride.

In 2004, Synergy Group, the owner of the airline, bought the Colombian airline Avianca, which was undergoing judicial reorganization. As a result, OceanAir became a feeder for Avianca's flights into Guarulhos. This partnership between the two airlines increased the flow of passengers between Colombia and Brazil. Synergy Group also bought VIP as part of a strategy to create a continent-wide airline under the Avianca brand. In November 2005, a joint venture formed by OceanAir (49%) and Fondo de Inversiones Sustentables (51%) created a new Peruvian airline called Wayraperú, but the airline suspended operations a few months later until it was re-established later in 2018.

OceanAir started operating international flights in 2007 with three Boeing 767-300ERs and a Boeing 757-200, but by April 2008, the flights were discontinued because of increase in operating costs. Since then, the airline has concentrated its efforts on the Brazilian domestic market only. 5 Airbus A330s and 30 Airbus A320s were ordered in 2010, a contract worth US$ 2,5 billion. With this fleet growth, Efromovich intended to control 15% of the Brazilian air market in the next decade, including routes to Mexico, Colombia, Africa and the United States.[8]

A former Avianca Brasil Airbus A318-100 at Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport in 2012

A former Avianca Brasil Airbus A320-200 at Salgado Filho International Airport in 2015

On 9 October 2009, Synergy announced that TACA Airlines and Avianca would merge. This merger increased OceanAir's feeder operations, already implemented with Avianca in São Paulo, to include TACA in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Santos Dumont Airport, Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre and Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasilia.

On 26 March 2010, Germán Efromovich announced the rebranding of OceanAir as Avianca Brasil. However, OceanAir Linhas Aéreas remained as the legal name of the airline.[9] This allowed the Synergy group to further align the operations of OceanAir and Avianca.[10] The first aircraft with the new name started operations on 27 April 2010.[11] The only notable differences between the aircraft of Avianca Colombia and those of Avianca Brasil are the latter's Brazilian registrations and a small Brazilian flag under their cockpit windows.

On 10 November 2010, Star Alliance decided to accept AviancaTaca Holding to join the network as a member airline. However, Avianca Brasil was rejected at the time due to its outdated IT platforms and an objection by TAM Linhas Aéreas, which since left Star Alliance to join Oneworld after merging with LAN Airlines.[12] Upon TAM's exit, Avianca Brasil officially joined Star Alliance on 22 July 2015 as an affiliate.[13]

On 11 October 2016, the airline took delivery of the first of 8 Airbus A320neos being leased from GECAS.[14] Independent from Avianca, the airline increased its market share from 3% in 2009 to 14% in 2018, becoming Brazil's fourth-largest carrier.[15]

On 10 December 2018, Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy protection, R$ 100 million (US$26 million) was owed to airports and bank debt grew by 50% in 2018, while United Airlines extended a loan of US$456 million to Avianca owner Synergy Group.[15] Total debts amount to 493 million reais (US$127 million), whereas the first half of 2018 generated 175.6 million reais of losses.[16] On 18 April 2019 Azul cancelled its offer to buy Avianca Brasil, but resubmitted the offer on 13 May.[17][18] On 24 May 2019, ANAC suspended flights of Avianca Brasil, due to security reasons.[4] On 24 June 2019, its suspension was officially written in the official Diary by Anac.[3] On 10 July 2019, the auction generated US$147,32 million or R$555,3 million from Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes and LATAM Brasil, if valid, however the debts are R$2.7 billion.[19]

On 20 August 2019, Star Alliance announced Avianca Brasil's exit from the alliance from 1 September 2019. The departure, however, didn't affect Avianca's membership.[20]

On 14 July 2020, Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy in court.[21]

Avianca Brasil had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[27]

Avianca Brasil had formerly operated the following aircraft:[32][33]