1930, Pan American Airways (PAA) acquires its short-lived rival New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line and its Brazilian subsidiary NYRBA do Brazil. The new subsidiary of the American international is renamed Panair do Brazil, S. A. on October 17 and is so recognized by a Brazilian government decree of November 21.
The aircraft assigned to Panair from Ralph O’Neill’s failed enterprise include four Consolidated Commodores (Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Sao Paulo, Argentina) and four Sikorsky S-38 (Porto Alegre, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sao Luiz) flying boats. Mail flights begin from PAA’s Belem terminus to Santos on November 28. Company headquarters are set up in Rio de Janeiro with a maintenance base at Belem.
Five-day Belem-Rio passenger service is inaugurated on March 2,
1931. The fleet is augmented during the summer by the addition of two more of the Commodores Miami and Buenos Aires and an S-38. On November 23, the Rio route is extended down to Buenos Aires via Fortaleza, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre. However, a complete flight from Belem still only includes a five-day voyage with stops at night. U. S. citizens comprise all Panair aircraft crews.
Sao Paulo revolutionaries hijack an S-38 on September 25, 1932 and the unqualified, hostile pilot crashes the aircraft 15 miles from the city. Two S-38s are added and are employed, beginning on September 15, 1933, to open a main 900-mile route from Belem to the Amazonas provincial capital of Manaus via Cameta, Curralinho, Gurupa, Monte Alegre, Santarem, Obidos, Parintins, and Itacoatiara. The coastal route started in 1931 is duplicated in March 1934. On September 28, Pan American Airways (PAA) is granted cabotage rights to also provide service from Belem to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Brazilian crews are first allowed to take over some Panair flights in 1935. In November, an S-38 route is initiated from Manaus to the Maderia River community of Porto Velho.
A maintenance hanger and office building are opened at Rio de Janeiro’s new Santos Dumont Airport early in 1936. The first of two Fairchild 71 (XA-942A) amphibians is delivered to Belem in February, allowing Panair, in late March, to extend frequencies on the Manaus route to Porto Velho via Borba, Manicore, and Hamaita. Later in the year, the fleet is augmented by the addition of two Lockheed Model 10Es and the first of eight Sikorsky S-43 “Baby Clippers” is delivered on October 27. The second Fairchild 71 is delivered in December.
The newly arrived Fairchild 71 enters service in January 1937. En route from Vitorio to Rio de Janeiro on February 8, the also-new S-43 develops an in-flight engine fire; after putting back down at Vitorio, the amphibian sinks. Pan American Airways (PAA) transfers a second S-43 on February 23 to replace the first. On March 23, Electra service is initiated from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte, the state capital of Minas Gerais. In late spring, the Porto Velho route is extended to Rio Branco via Labrea and Roca do Acre. Another S-43 joins the fleet on April 29.
The fleet in 1938 comprises 7 Commodores, 6 S-38s, 1 Lockheed Express, 2 Fairchild 71s, 2 S-43s, and 2 L-10Es. In September, the last remaining pilots are replaced by Brazailians. Routes are opened in 1939 to Uberaba, Governador Valadares, and Sao Paulo, direct via Poca de Caldas. On May 8, a Fairchild 71 is lost while taking off from the Amazon River at Santarem; no injuries are reported and the aircraft is salvaged and rebuilt.
In 1940, the Belo Horizonte frequency becomes daily while the Sao Paulo through-route is flown five times per week. In June, a Douglas DC-2 is delivered via Juan Trippe’s carrier. In terms of passenger kilometers flown, Panair now ranks as the fourth largest carrier in Latin America.
In late winter 1941, a second DC-2 arrives, but together with the first, it is soon transferred to Uruguay, being replaced in April by the first of 14 Lockheed L-18 Lodestars that will be delivered through January 1945.
Funded by a five-year government grant of 27 million milreis, Panair is authorized, on July 25, to begin construction of airports at Salvador, Recife, Maceio, Fortaleza, Natal, Belem, Sao Luis, and Amapa. The same day, it is given permission to open two new routes: Rio de Janeiro-Belo Horizonte-Patos-Goiania and Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo-Curitiba-Fozdo Iguacu-Asuncion-Corumba-Campo Grande-Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro. In Amazonas, the Manaus route is now stretched to Tabatinga via Cadajas, Coari, Tefe, Fonte Boa, Santa Antonio de Ica, and Sao Paulo de Olivenca.
Contracts are also signed with Pan American Airways (PAA) to support the American major’s ferry work at revitalized bases at Natal and Belem. On December 8, a Fairchild 71 is badly damaged in a Belem landing accident.
Late in the year as the Syndicate Condor, S. A. operation is taken over, the German operator’s Porto Velho-Rio Branco and Corumba routes, as well as those in the states of Maranhao and Ceara, are transferred to Panair. An S-43B is acquired from Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) on December 26.
Crashes claim one Fairchild and six Lodestars in 1942-1943. Panair operations in Amazonas support the war effort of the U. S. Rubber Development Corporation. Another two S-43s are transferred from Pan American Airways (PAA) on September 9 and September 28, 1942, respectively, followed by one more on February 23, 1943. On August 17, 1943, a government decree authorizes the carrier to launch services to neighboring countries. The former Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) “Baby Clipper” is written off at Manaus, Brazil, on December 1 and on December 7, Pan Am shareholding is reduced to 58%.
On January 1, 1944, Dr. Paulo Sampaio becomes president. A former Pan American Airways (PAA) S-43 is lost in an accident at Santarem, Paraguay, on May 25. The last of 14 Lodestars is delivered in January 1945, followed by two Model 12s that are quickly replaced. The first of 21 DC-3s (converted to civil standard from ex-military C-47s) are placed in service and flights commence to Iquitos, Peru. After 7,000 hours of service, the second Fairchild 71 is withdrawn later in the year and scrapped.
The first of 14 ex-Pan American Airways (PAA) L-049s is received in March 1946; christened Manoel de Borba Gato, it makes a proving flight with 14 passengers from Rio de Janeiro to London on April 16. The crossing marks the first aircraft of a foreign airline to land at the new Heathrow Airport, the first Constellation to land at Heathrow, and the first Brazilian service to the U. K.
A second Constellation, the Domingos Alfonso Sertao, is employed to start transatlantic L-049 service to London on April 27. As additional Constellations join the fleet, routes are opened to Paris on July 1 and Rome on October 3. Meanwhile, on September 19, capitalization is increased from 80 to 100 million cruzeiros and Juan Trippe sells 400,000 shares to the Brazilians, giving that nation 52% majority control.
Direct L-049 service to Rome begins on September 24. Three days later, on September 27, a DC-3 with 3 crew and 22 passengers is hit by lightning over Belo Horizonte, takes fire, and crashes; there are no survivors.
An S-43 is withdrawn in November, leaving only two in service.
A S-43 crashes into the Amazon River near Sao Paulo de Olivenca on January 5, 1947 (11 dead). L-749 Constellations are now received from the American owner and the first is put into service in May from Rio de Janeiro to London via Recife, Dakar, London, and Paris. L-749 flights are inaugurated to Cairo on June 5 and Istanbul on November 16.
After eight years of service, the original Pan American Airways (PAA) S-43 is withdrawn on January 10, 1948. The Paris L-749 route is extended to Frankfurt on March 9. Simultaneously, Constellation flights are launched to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The Amazon fleet is reinforced by the introduction of eight Consolidated PBY-5A Catalinas that replace the remaining S-43.
The 1,000th transatlantic crossing is made on April 29, 1949. Late in the year, the Istanbul route is closed.
An L-749 with 7 crew and 43 passengers crashes near Porto Alegre on July 28, 1950; there are no survivors. Service to Istanbul is reopened on August 3 and extended to Beirut on October 5.
Lisbon and Madrid join the European network in 1951 and service is launched to Santiago de Chile and Lima. While going around from a missed landing at Uberlandia, Brazil, on February 28, 1952, a DC-3 with 32 passengers strikes a line of trees and crashes (8 dead).
Two Constellations are lost in accidents during the year and two replacements are obtained from Aeronaves de Mexico, S. A. de C. V.
Orders are placed on March 20, 1953 for four de Havilland DH 106 Comet 2 jetliners. Coming in on approach from London, an L-049 with 7 crew and 10 passengers crashes 6.5 km. SW of Sao Paulo on June 17; there are no survivors.
Hamburg is added as a European stop on August 31 and on December 30, the carrier opens the world’s longest nonstop regularly scheduled air route, a 4,837-mile link between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. The flight requires 21 hrs. 40 min.
Flights commence to Dusseldorf on March 22, 1954. On October 1, despite crashes of the type earlier in the year, President Sampaio reconfirms the carrier’s faith in the Comet. Employees strike the airline on January 24, 1955 and as a result, Dr. Argemiro Hungria de Silva Machado succeeds Dr. Sampaio as president on May 25. En route from London to Buenos Aires on June 16 with 10 crew and 14 passengers, an L-749 crashes near Villa Elisa, Paraguay; among the 16 killed is U. S. newsman J. G. Dowling. Orders are now placed for five DC-7Cs.
A Consolidated PBY-5A with three aboard crashes near Parcentins on April 18, 1957; there are no survivors. On November 22, a two-year operations agreement is signed with LAN (Loide Aereo Nacional, S. A.) for joint services in the north and northeast sections of Brazil, coordinating schedules, etc., so as to avoid wasteful competition.
In February 1957, LAN (Loide Aereo Nacional, S. A.) orders four DC-6As for lease to Panair. Simultaneously, Panair agrees not to employ its long-haul aircraft in direct competition with the smaller airline. The first DC-7C, a two-year-old machine previously operated by Pan American World Airways (1), is delivered on April 16. Christened Ban-deirante Fernao Dias_Pais, it is placed on transatlantic service shortly thereafter. Company officials during the summer announce plans to reengine 11 of its L-049s with Eland turboprop engines built by the British firm of D. Napier and Son, Ltd.
LAN (Loide Aereo Nacional, S. A.) receives its first DC-6A in December 1958; christened Garcia de Arica, it is immediately leased to
Panair. Meanwhile, two additional DC-7Cs are received throughout the year; they are named for other Bandeirantes: Antonio Raposo Tavares and Nicolau Barreto.
The three other Lan (Loide Aereo Nacional, S. A.) DC-6As (Bartolomeo Bueno da Siqueiro, Fernando de Camargo, Francisco Dias de Avila) are placed in domestic service by Panair under charter in February 1959. In March, the four DC-7Cs and four DC-6As are flying daily service to Europe, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Orders are now placed for four Douglas DC-8-33s. A Constellation, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Belem and hijacked by rebels on December 4, lands at Buenos Aires, where the men surrender and from which the Lockheed is returned. At this point, the decision is taken not to proceed with installation of turboprop engines aboard the Constellations, which by this time are no longer front-line equipment.
On October 30, 1960, a pooled Pan American World Airways
(1)/Panair route is opened from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon. In terms of passenger kilometers flown, the Brazilian carrier now ranks as the fifth largest in Latin America and the second in Brazil behind VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense, S. A.).
The cooperative agreement with Loide ends in February 1961 and the four leased DC-6As are returned. The first DC-8-33 is received in March; christened Manuel do Borba Gato, it is placed on the European service on April 20. Two more are received during the summer and fall.
In October, four SE-210 Caravelle VIRs are ordered from France. A DC-7C is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Belem on October 14; there are no fatalities.
En route to Rio de Janeiro from Lisbon via Ilha do Sal and Recife on the evening of November 1, the DC-7C Bartolomeo Bueno da Silva, with 7 crew and 38 passengers, strikes an 84-m.-high hill outside Recife and breaks up 2,720 m. short of the runway; there are no survivors.
Named Bras Cubasand Garcia d'Avila, the DC-8-33s begin flying to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile four days later. The remaining Pan American World Airways (1) interest is sold and Panair becomes a completely owned Brazilian airline.
Having lost its nosewheel during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Galeao on March 3, 1962, an L-049 lands without it and is damaged beyond repair; no injuries are reported.
The DC-8-33 Bras Cubas with 11 crew and 94 passengers fails its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on August 20, crashes through an airport wall into Guanabara Bay for 160 ft., and then drifts 330 ft. before submerging 25 minutes later (15 dead).
Meanwhile, the four Caravelle VIRs are received during the spring and summer; christened Antao Leme da Silva, Dominigos Rodrigues de Carvalho, Fernando de Camargo, and Francisco Dias de Avila, on September 15 they begin supplementing L-049s and L-1049s on the domestic flights to Manaus, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belem, and Recife. In October, two additional DC-3s are acquired in support of the Amazonas service. A replacement DC-8-33 is received in November and named Bras Cubas II.
An L-1049 with 7 crew and 43 passengers crashes into the jungles near Parana de Eva, in the vicinity of Manaus on December 14. Rescuers struggle through the undergrowth for four days to reach the wreck, but find no survivors.
Late in the year, the company withdraws nine L-049s, placing them into service, some for cannibalization of spare parts.
A DC-7C with seven crew crashes during takeoff on a training flight from Rio de Janeiro on April 8, 1963; there are no survivors.
Two final DC-7Cs, the Bartolomeu Buena da Silva II and Bras Es-teves Leme, arrive from Pan American World Airways (1) in August for use on the pooled service to Portugal. In November, pool agreements for European services are signed with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., Alitalia, S. p.A., and Aerolinas Argentinas, S. A. Upon the receipt of government authority in 1964, charter services are flown from Lisbon to Luanda on behalf of TAP-Air Portugal.
Flights to Europe end on February 10, 1965 and the government cancels the carrier’s operating authority the next day. On February 16,
Panair declares bankruptcy with a debt exceeding $65 million. Routes and aircraft are subsequently divided between VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense, S. A.) and Cruzeiro do Sul, S. A.
Some of the older equipment is sold off over the next several years.
PANAIR FLUGANLAGE, GmbH.: Germany (1969). Germania Fluganlage, GmbH. is established at the beginning of January 1969 to offer life for the travel concern Paneuropa, GmbH. Unhappily for the new entrant, Germania Fluggesellschaft, GmbH. raises objections to the company’s name, forcing an almost immediate renaming. While operating authority is sought, the company begins revenue operations on February 5, employing a wet-leased Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle.
Just after the company’s first owned aircraft, a British Aircraft Corporation BAC 1-11-515, is received on June 13, Panair receives its operating certificate. Although the company has a successful summer season, it once again faces moniker problems in the fall. This time the U. S. giant Pan American World Airways (1), concerned about confusion in names so similar, demands a change. On December 31, the Dusseldorf-based operator becomes Paninternational Airways, GmbH.
PANAMA AERONAUTICA, S. A.: Panama (1960-1962). Founded on October 3, 1960 with the purpose of flying to Miami, this entrant receives an American CAB concession in 1961 and actually begins service in March 1962. The company is not able to maintain its business and closes before the end of the year.
PANAMA AIRWAYS: United States (1990-1991). Jon McMinis founds PA at Panama City, Florida, in 1990 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo commuter flights to regional destinations. The fleet comprises 2 Piper PA-31-310 Navajos and 1 PA-34 Seneca and these are employed to inaugurate daily roundtrips linking the company’s base with Tampa, Orlando, Pensacola, and New Orleans. Operations continue only into 1991.
PANAMA AIRWAYS, S. A.: Panama (1936-1941). Panama Airways is formed on November 7, 1936 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Pan American Airways (PAA). Working under authority of the Canal Zone Commission, the American major’s surrogate inaugurates twice-weekly Ford 5-AT service in December, linking Cristobal with Balboa, 35 miles away.
Despite the availability of faster Douglas DC-2s from the parent, PA finds a niche in working with cruise ships. Beginning in early 1937, sight-seeing tours above the Panama Canal are offered and are coordinated with ship arrivals and departures so as to allow upwards of 36 roundtrips per day at $14 per trip between the cities. Of the 16,000 cruise ship passengers visiting Cristobal during the year, 3,000 of them take advantage of these flights.
Operations continue apace in 1938-1940, with a few other destinations added. When the company is dissolved on April 30, 1941, it is offering daily frequency over its 47-mile-long route system, in addition to the sight-seeing flights.
PANAMA CARGO THREE, S. A.: Panama (1993-1994). PCT is established at Panama City in 1993 to offer ad hoc, regional, all-freight charters. Revenue operations are started and maintained for a year with a single Convair CV-580F.
PANAMBRA, LTDA.: Bolivia (1980-1989). Another small “meat hauler,” Panambra is founded at La Paz in 1980 to offer nonscheduled all-cargo services around the country. Operations are undertaken with a single Convair CV-440.
The aircraft is lost to accident in 1985, but is replaced by another CV-440 purchased from Frigorifico Reyes (Fri-Reyes), Ltda. Flights continue until the end of the decade.
World History
