Manaus Aerotáxi



Manaus Aerotáxi is a non-scheduled airline and air taxi company headquartered in Manaus, Brazil, specializing in charter flights and air medical services certified by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) under the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulations (RBAC) No. 135.

Founded in 1998, the company has contracts with the Brazilian Ministry of Defense to transport passengers, cargo and medevac to serve riverside communities in the Legal Amazon region.

Establishment
Manaus Aerotáxi was founded in April 1998 by pilot Marcos José Pacheco, focused on transporting passengers and cargo through the interior of Amazonas, where several cities and communities are inaccessible by land, being possible only through the waterway or air, the latter considered an essential service.

In 2009, the airline was certified by ANAC to provide air medical services.

MAP Linhas Aéreas
On May 18, 2011, Manaus Aerotáxi founded MAP Linhas Aéreas, a regional airline focused on regular air transport of passengers and cargo in the Brazilian Amazon region. MAP's name is the acronym for Manaus Aerotáxi Participações, the corporate name of its parent company. Subsequently, the two companies became part of the economic group MAP Aviação, also integrated by Southeast Aviation Brasil, a company that offers aircraft ground handling at Eduardo Gomes International Airport, in Manaus, the airline's headquarters.

On October 1, 2014, Manaus Aerotáxi became a contractor for the Brazilian Ministry of Defense, leasing four turboprops aircraft to transport cargo of interest to the Regional Works Commission of the 12th Military Region, linked to the Brazilian Army, based in Manaus.

In April 2019, after a partnership with the Mato Grosso Sul-based airline GENSA (General Serviços Aéreos), Manaus Aerotáxi acquired the only plane that belonged to the Sul-Mato-Grossense company, the Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante registration PT-SOG (MSN 110490), incorporating it into the fleet.

On August 21, 2019, the economic group MAP Aviação, which controls Manaus Aerotáxi, the handling company Southeast Aviation Brasil and MAP Linhas Aéreas, announced the sale of 100% of its shareholding in the regional airline MAP to Passaredo Linhas Aéreas, which on the same day announced its rebranding to VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas.

New visual identity
As of September 2020, Manaus Aerotáxi started to adopt a new visual identity on its aircraft, in the colors blue, white and gray, replacing the green color previously used. The first plane to receive the new livery was the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan registration PR-MNS (MSN 208B2065), on September 14, 2020. The airline's logo was also updated, becoming blue and gray, accompanied by the slogan "Da Amazônia para o Brasil" (From the Amazon to Brazil, in English).

Aviation services
In addition to non-scheduled and air taxi flights, Manaus Aerotáxi also offers fixed-base operator (FBO) aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, handling, tie-down, parking and aircraft maintenance both in its hangar at Eduardo Gomes International Airport, in Manaus, and also located at Val-de-Cans/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport, in Belém, Pará, providing support services to general aviation operators at a public-use airport.

Sale of MAP Linhas Aéreas
In April 2020, the former owners of MAP Linhas Aéreas, Marcos José Pacheco and Sônia Maria Fernandes Pacheco, owners of Manaus Aerotáxi, filed a lawsuit in the Amazonas Court against VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas over the non-payment of debts worth R$6.8 million related to the provision of services and the acquisition of the airline in mid-2019. In the same court case, the former owners also asked the judge to seize the ATR 42-300 registration PT-MFE (MSN 295), which according to them, belonged to Manaus Aerotáxi and was loaned to VOEPASS for a determined period, however, after the end before the deadline, the airline did not return it.

The request to seize the French-Italian-made turboprop was accepted by the court, which forced VOEPASS to return the plane to the owner (Manaus Aerotáxi) in Manaus. After more than two years without flying, on August 26, 2023, the plane was dismantled at Eduardo Gomes International Airport, from where it was transferred by land to Tefé to be preserved as a hotel.

In addition to the purchase and sale contract for the regional airline, according to the indictment, the new owners of MAP Linhas Aéreas had committed to assuming all of the airline's liabilities, at the time around R$72 million. However, the company's former owners were surprised with charges relating to financing that VOEPASS should have assumed.

Current fleet
As of April 2024 the fleet of Manaus Aerotáxi included the following aircraft:

Former fleet
Manaus Aerotáxi formerly operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

 * On February 7, 2009, the Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante of Manaus Aerotáxi, registration PT-SEA, operating an air taxi flight between Coari and Manaus with 26 passengers and 2 crew, disappeared from radars 20 minutes before landing at Eduardo Gomes International Airport. The wreckage of the plane was later located by Brazilian Air Force (FAB) search and rescue teams in the Manacapuru River, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the Amazonian capital. The two crew and 22 of the 26 passengers on board died.


 * On September 16, 2023, during the beginning of the fishing season in the Amazon, the Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante of Manaus Aerotáxi, registration PT-SOG, operating a charter flight carrying two crew members and 12 tourists from different regions of Brazil between Manaus and Barcelos for sport and recreational fishing in the Rio Negro, crashed during a failed go-around attempt in heavy rain at Barcelos Airport. All 14 passengers and crew died.