Passaredo to make a major expansion into the Bahia state in northeastern Brazil, supported by a new ATR turboprop maintenance centre in Salvador de Bahia.
The regional carrier – based in Riberao Preto in Sao Paulo state – plans to serve a number of new destinations within Bahia state and connect them directly with other Brazilian cities, in principle, using its fleet of ATR 72-500 turboprops.
Although no final fleet and route plans have yet been announced for its northeastern network, the airline suggested at an event in Salvador de Bahia that it might introduce flights to a number of new destinations within the next 12 months, including Ilheus, Teixeira de Freitas and Aracaju.
Passaredo made its plans public after Bahia’s governor Rui Costa announced earlier this month the introduction of incentives and tax breaks to improve air connectivity to and within the state. Among the measures laid out by the governor are fuel tax reductions, from the current 18% rate to a theoretical minimum of 3% depending of the number of destinations an airline serves in the state.
David Faria, Passaredo’s director for institutional relations, says that “the [regional aviation] incentive programme created by the government of Bahia is an essential factor that allows us to focus our expansion efforts on this state and to start attending efficiently its regional destinations”.
In order to support the new operational structure, Passaredo has also signed an agreement with the Bahia state under which the airline will create a new maintenance and engineering centre located at Salvador de Bahia’s International Airport.
Since it emerged from bankruptcy administration in 2017 after being reacquired by its former owners, the Felicio family, Passaredo has so far maintained a low profile as it consolidated its operations with a limited fleet of six ATR 72-500s after discarding new and more capital-intensive aircraft.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
