Total Linhas Aéreas

Total Linhas Aéreas is an airline based in Curitiba, Brazil, founded in 1988. It operates cargo and charter services. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2023, Total Linhas Aéreas carried 1,347 passengers on charter flights and had 0.1% of the domestic market share in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), making it the tenth largest domestic airline, while transporting 21.1 thousand tons of cargo and had 6.4% of the domestic market share in terms of revenue tonne kilometer (RTK), making it the fourth largest cargo airline in Brazil.



Establishment
The airline has its origins in 1988 as air taxi company called Total Aero-táxi, owned by Grupo Empresarial Rota.

Acquisition by Grupo Sulista and transformation
In December 1994, Transportadora Sulista S/A, one of the largest road transport organizations in the country, headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, purchased 100% of the shares of Total Aero-táxi and then began a restructuring process to make the company capable of operating in the regular transport segment. On that date, Total's fleet already consisted of eight aircraft, including one Beech 99, six Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and one Embraer EMB-120 Brasília Quick Change (QC).



Early years and regional expansion (1995-2006)
In January 1996, the process came to fruition with the receipt of the Air Operator Certificate (CHETA, in portuguese) from DAC (the extinct Department of Civil Aviation, replaced in 2005 by ANAC). From that moment on, Total Aero-táxi became a regular airline, becoming a company approved according to RBHA-121 (Brazilian Aeronautical Homologation Regulation) and being able to operate aircraft of any category.

In 1999, Total participated with Interbrasil STAR and TABA in the creation of a shuttle service called Regional Air Bridge between Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and Belo Horizonte-Pampulha using mostly Total's ATR 42-300 fleet. However, the agreement was dissolved a year later, in 2000, when Total began to strengthen its own operations and expand rapidly.

2000s
In 2001, Total incorporated its first Boeing 727 for cargo operations, began retiring the Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and EMB-120 Brasília fleet and started incorporating ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-200 turboprops, becoming the first operator of the model in Brazil and positioning itself as the largest operator of Franco-Italian ATR turboprops in the country.



In 2006, it overtook Rico Linhas Aéreas and became the largest Brazilian regional airline in terms of fleet size and number of passengers carried, operating 17 turboprops and having transported more than 721,000 passengers. At its peak, Total won the award from Avião Revue magazine for the Best Regional Airline in Brazil for two consecutive years, in 2006 and 2007.

Merger with TRIP Linhas Aéreas (2006-2024)
On Nov 13, 2007 TRIP Linhas Aéreas and Total Linhas Aéreas agreed to merge, and in May 2008, after approval by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), the merger was concluded. According to this agreement, all passenger services were transferred to TRIP charter and cargo flights remained under the brand Total Linhas Aéreas.

2010s
In May 2012, days before the announced purchase of TRIP Linhas Aéreas by Azul Brazilian Airlines, TRIP and Total were separated. However, Total decided to continue with only cargo and charter flights operations.



After handing over commercial operations to TRIP, Total Linhas Aéreas maintained a fleet of four ATR-42 for regular charter flights, particularly for Petrobras in Amazonas and five Boeing 727-200F for cargo and nightmail flights as per contract with Brazilian Post and Telegraph Corporation (ECT), also known as Correios, and the Central Bank of Brazil, among others.

2020s
On May 24, 2021, it received the first Boeing 737 in its history, the Boeing 737-45D(SF) registration PS-TLA (MSN 28753) acquired from VX Capital Partners, which, according to speculation, will be used to start the retirement process of its veteran Boeing 727 fleet. The aircraft was leased and received the colors of the carrier Total Express, which at the end of 2023 launched its own airline, Total Express Linhas Aéreas.

On December 20, 2023 during a presentation and dinner served to the press, politicians and guests in a hangar at Brasilia International Airport, Total Linhas Aéreas announced that it would resume regular passenger flights using ATR-42 and Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft until the end of 2024. The hub of the airline will be Brasília and according to a route map presented at the time, the intention is to serve up to 26 brazilian cities. On the same occasion a new logo was presented.

On January 7, 2024, Total Linhas Aéreas reserved in the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry (RAB) system the registration for two new ATR 72-500 turboprops, registration PS-CVI (MSN 880) and PS-POP (MSN 923), both previously operated by Precision Air of Tanzania and leased from Swala Leasing & Finance company.



On April 9, 2024, Brazilian aviation journalist Solange Galante announced exclusively on her that Total Linhas Aéreas will incorporate its second Boeing 737-400SF in the third week of April; information that was confirmed by the airline itself. The aircraft serial number 26299, leased from Hamden Aviation, will receive the Brazilian aeronautical registration PS-TLB.

New visual identity
On April 11, 2024, Total Linhas Aéreas presented its new corporate image. The first plane to receive its new livery was the ATR 42-500 registration PR-TTK (MSN 504), which took off on the same day on a charter flight from Manaus to Georgetown, in Guyana. The painting process was carried out in the airline's hangar located at Eduardo Gomes International Airport.

Subsequently, through a comment on its Instagram page, Total Linhas Aéreas reported that the change in the logo occurred due to the sale of the airline by Grupo Sulista, which required the change of the corporate image by the new owners. The company also announced a new president, Ademir Knop, former general director, and also the acquisition of two more Boeing 737-400F to modernize it's fleet.

Destinations
As of July 2024 Total Linhas Aéreas regularly operated services to the following destinations in Brazil:

Current fleet
Total Linhas Aéreas fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2024):

Accidents and incidents

 * 14 September 2002: Total Linhas Aereas Flight 5561 between São Paulo-Guarulhos and Londrina crashed while en route near Paranapanema. The crew of 2 died.
 * 30 May 2014: an ATR 42-500 took off from Porto Urucu Airport, on a domestic flight to Manaus. During the rotation, the captain noticed that the aircraft hit a tapir. Subsequently, the right main landing gear did not retract. The hydraulic systems were affected by the collision and the crew decided to proceed to Manaus with the landing gear down. During landing, after the touchdown of the right landing gear on the ground, the aircraft turned to the right. The crew managed to keep the aircraft within the lateral limits of the runway. None of the 59 occupants on board were injured.
 * 5 May 2024: the Boeing 727-200 registration PR-TTP was stuck at Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport after the apron and runways were flooded during the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods.