Panair do Brasil spreads its wings | Aviation Week, October 10, 1949

 

By Henry W. Bagley

RIO DE JANEIRO-Brazilians are running South America's biggest airline. Panair do Brasil. It was started, and for years operated by outsiders. Then it was a small coastal line; now it is controlled and operated by Brazilians and has become a big-time transocean carrier.

Pan American Airways, which established the line, now holds only 48 percent of the stock; the majority is in the hands of Brazilians. With only about 40 Americans left on the company roster, policy is to replace Americans with Brazilians whenever possible.

In 1948, Panair do Brasil flew over 10,260,000 miles, an increase of 37 per- cent over the previous year. It carried 199,398 passengers, up 42 percent over 1947.

Panair do Brasil flies all over Brazil, as well as south to Buenos Aires and Montevideo and across the South Atlantic to London, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Cairo and Beirut. Its lines extend more than 50,000 miles, of which 21,550 are outside Brazil.