Brazilian regional airline VoePass suspends flights
Brazilian regional airline VoePass has been forced to suspend scheduled and charter commercial flights as of March 11 by ANAC, Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency.
The decision to ban operations as a precautionary measure was made after the regulatory body found “non-conformities related to the company’s management systems as provided for in regulations”.
VoePass flies to 15 destinations in addition to two charter contracts and currently has six active aircraft, four ATR 72-500s, one ATR 72-600 and one ATR 42-500 operated by subsidiary MAP Linhas Aéreas.
“ANAC’s decision stems from Voepass’ inability to resolve irregularities identified during the supervision carried out by the Agency, as well as the violation of the conditions previously established for the continuity of the operation within the required safety standards,” the agency said in a statement.
Operation assisted by ANAC
Since the crash of an ATR 72-500 on August 9 of last year, ANAC began to carry out an assisted inspection operation of VoePass.
The agency intended to monitor whether the airline followed the safety procedures to maintain the Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
In October 2024, ANAC required VoePass to reduce its flight network and increase the time its aircraft were on the ground for maintenance. In addition, it demanded the replacement of managers and the implementation of an action plan to correct irregularities.
According to the agency, at the end of last month a new round of audits identified the “degradation of the efficiency of the company’s management system in relation to the monitored activities and the systematic failure to comply with the requirements”.
ANAC also discovered that irregularities previously identified and remedied had occurred again, leading to a “breach of trust”.
Injunction to avoid judicial recovery
Founded in 1995 as Passaredo, VoePass has had its ups and downs in its 30 years of operation, including filing for bankruptcy.
The regional airline is currently in the midst of an injunction to avoid judicial restructuring after accumulating debts with lessors and partners such as LATAM Airlines.
The financial crisis had already been evident for almost a year when the leasing payment of some aircraft was suspended, but it became serious after the crash of the ATR 72-500 PS-VPB that killed all 62 occupants.
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Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
