TRIP Linhas Aéreas

TRIP Linhas Aéreas S/A (formerly Transporte Aéreo Regional do Interior Paulista) was a domestic regional airline based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.[1]

TRIP Linhas Aéreas
IATA ICAO Callsign
T4 TIB TRIP
Founded1998
Ceased operations2014 (integrated into Azul Brazilian Airlines)
HubsTancredo Neves International Airport
Frequent-flyer programTudo Azul
Fleet size54
Destinations93
Parent companyAzul Brazilian Airlines
HeadquartersBelo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
Key peopleJosé Mario Caprioli dos Santos
Websitewww.voetrip.com.br

According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) between January and December 2012 Trip had 4.47% of the domestic market share in terms of passengers per kilometre flown.[2]

History
An ATR 42-320 of TRIP Linhas Aéreas

The airline was established in 1998 with two Embraer EMB 120 Brasilias and was wholly owned by the Caprioli Group until November 2006, when Águia Branca Group (Chieppe family) bought 49% of its capital.

On January 25, 2007 TRIP Linhas Aéreas has placed an order for seven new ATR 72-500s with options for a further five of the twin turboprops, this deal is its first new ATR order, and the first for the ATR 72-500 in Brazil. The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127-powered aircraft will be configured with 68 seats. With this growth the company expect have more than 500 employees by 2010. As of January 2007, the company has 500 employees.

On November 13, 2007 TRIP Linhas Aéreas and Total Linhas Aéreas agreed to merge, a transaction which was completed on May 2008. The brand Trip is dedicated to passenger service whereas Total is dedicated to charter and cargo services.

On September 4, 2008, it was announced that SkyWest Airlines agreed to purchase up to 20% of the shares of TRIP Linhas Aéreas. The purchase was done in 3 installments and was completed by 2010.[3] In early May 2012 TRIP bought back the shares.[4]

On August 20, 2010, with the bankruptcy of Flex Linhas Aéreas, Trip took over its services provided to Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS), and Meteorology Service (MET) and Airport Information Service (AIS) on several airports in Brazil through the Flex Communication Center (FCC). FCC serves, among others: TAM Airlines, VRG Linhas Aéreas (operator of Gol and Varig brands), VarigLog, Avianca Brazil, NHT Linhas Aéreas, and Embraer.[5][6]

An Embraer 175 of TRIP Linhas Aéreas at Maringá Regional Airport

In order to optimize the use of its aircraft, TRIP announced on July 27, 2011 the creation of TRIP Cargo, the cargo division of TRIP Linhas Aéreas. On a first moment, TRIP Cargo will only use the cargo compartment of its aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights. However, as soon as demand justifies, TRIP cargo will start using ATR-72s for pure cargo flights during the night, when not operating passenger flights. The conversion of the aircraft can be done in 15 minutes.[7]

On September 9, 2011 TRIP Linhas Aéreas placed an order for 18 new ATR 72-600s with options for further 22. Nine of the 18 aircraft will be purchased directly from ATR with the remaining to be leased from Air Lease Corporation and GE Capital Aviation Services. With the entry into service of the 18 firm ATR 72-600s, TRIP Linhas Aéreas will become the largest ATR operator in the world, with a fleet of 51 ATRs. The new aircraft will be configured for 68 passengers.[8]

On March 30, 2011, TAM Airlines signed a letter of intentions to purchase up to 31% of the shares of TRIP Linhas Aéreas. Both airlines maintain code-share agreements since 2004.[9] A final decision had however been postponed,[10] and finally in February 2012 the purchase agreement was not renewed. Code-sharing operations ended on March 28, 2013.[11]

Two Embraer 175 and an ATR-72 of TRIP Linhas Aéreas at Santos Dumont Airport, Rio de Janeiro.

On May 28, 2012, it was announced that Azul Brazilian Airlines purchased TRIP creating the holding Azul Trip. During the year 2012 the brands will co-exist operating in integrated form but eventually, upon government approval, they will merge, maintaining the name Azul.[4][12][13]

On a press release dated of September 7, 2012, (the Brazilian Independence Day), Azul and Trip officially announced some visible characteristics of the merger:[14]

  • The letter U of Azul will be written in a lighter shade of blue, recalling that previously the same happened with the letter I of Trip. Moreover, U stands for Union;
  • The expression Brazilian Airlines will not be used anymore;
  • Both airlines will carry the signature Azul e Trip: juntas pelo Brasil (Azul and Trip: together for Brazil) in their aircraft;
  • All Trip aircraft will be baptized and will still carry a silver shade in their metal;
  • One Embraer and one ATR of TRIP will always bear the original TRIP colours, and one Embraer 195 will bear hybrid colour scheme with base silver colours symbolizing the union of both airlines.

Azul and Trip started comprehensive code-sharing operations on December 2, 2012,[15] and all flights carry now only the IATA code of Azul. However already on October 1, 2012 Trip started operating flights on behalf of Azul. On March 6, 2013 Brazilian authorities gave the final approval for the merger with a few restrictions related to code-sharing with TAM Airlines and slot use at Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport.[16] On May 6, 2014 the merger process was completed with the final approval from Brazilian authorities. That day the brand TRIP ceased to exist.[17]

Destinations
Main article: List of TRIP Linhas Aéreas destinations

Fleet

As of December 2012 the fleet of Trip Linhas Aéreas included the following aircraft:[18]

TRIP Linhas Aéreas Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers (Y) Notes
ATR 42-500 19 – 47
ATR 72-500 14 – 66
ATR 72-600 2 1 68
Embraer 175 9 – 86
Embraer 190 10 – 110

Airline affinity program

Tudo Azul is Trips's Frequent Flyer Program. It is based on amounts spent and not on flown miles. Members earn 5% of the ticket value on their accounts, which later can be redeemed as a ticket discounts. It is valid also for Azul Brazilian Airlines flights.

References
  1. "CONTRATO DE TRANSPORTE AÉREO DE PASSAGEIROS "TRIP" Archived 2010-07-21 at the Wayback Machine." TRIP Linhas Aéreas. Retrieved on July 5, 2010. "TRIP LINHAS AÉREAS, sociedade com sede na Av. Brasil, n.1394, Jardim Guanabara, no Município de Campinas, Estado de São Paulo..."
  2. "Dados Comparativos Avançados" (in Portuguese). Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC). Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  3. Osse, José Sérgio (4 September 2008). "Trip vende participação para SkyWest para sustentar crescimento" (in Portuguese). O Globo. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  4. "Tire suas dúvidas sobre a fusão entre Azul e Trip" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. May 28, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  5. Website of Flex Communication Center (FCC) Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Niemeyer, Felipe (20 August 2010). "Falência da Flex, Rio Sul e Nordeste: Trip deve assumir" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  7. Komatsu, Alberto (28 July 2011). "TRIP cria divisão de carga para ampliar presença em mercado de R$1,6 bi" (in Portuguese). Valor Online. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  9. Westphalen, Ana Luísa (March 30, 2011). "TAM negocia com TRIP e pode ter participação de 31% na aérea regional" (in Portuguese). Valor Online. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
  10. Komatsu, Alberto (November 21, 2011). "TAM reforça gestão do mercado interno" (in Portuguese). Valor Econômico. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  11. "TAM cancela acordo de compartilhamento com a Trip" (in Portuguese). O Estado de S. Paulo. April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  12. "Azul e Trip anunciam fusão" (in Portuguese). Folha.com. May 28, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  13. Reigada, Maria Izabel (August 31, 2012). "Caprioli anuncia fim da marca trip na fusão com Azul" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  14. "Azul e Trip anunciam a nova marca" (in Portuguese). Azul Linhas Aéreas. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  15. "Acordo de codeshare entre Azul e Trip leva cliente a 100 destinos" (in Portuguese). Brasilturis. September 20, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  16. Teixeira Alves, Danilo (March 6, 2013). "Cade aprova fusão da Azul e Trip com condições" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  17. "Ata da reunião realizada em 6 de maio de 2014" (PDF) (in Portuguese). ANAC. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  18. "Frota atual das empresas brasileiras" (in Portuguese). Aeromuseu. December 31, 2011. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
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