Rico Linhas Aereas
Encyclopedia
Rico Linhas Aéreas S/A was a Brazilian regional airline with its headquarters at Eduardo Gomes International Airport
in Manaus
, Brazil
, authorized to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services in the Amazon
region.
The airline was grounded on June 1, 2010 and on June 7, 2011 lost its operational license.
, Mato Grosso
, bought an aircraft and started to fly in the region. The operations consisted of transportation of cargo to gold-mining locations of the region using small aircraft.
During the 1960s, Mickey started a small charter and air taxi company called Taxi Aéreo Rondônia, specialized in flying to gold-mining centers of Rondônia
and headquartered in Porto Velho
. During the construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway
in the 1970s, the company changed its headquarters to Manaus, and provided air services to the big construction companies that were building the highway.
Later, Yurtsever created also Rico - Rondônia Indústria e Comércio, a company that in 1980 would be merged with Taxi Aéreo Rondônia to create Rico Taxi Aéreo.
From 1974 to 1982 Rico Taxi Aéreo maintained a contract with Petrobras
to provide air-transportation while it was searching for oil and natural gas in the Amazonian region. At that time Rico operated 23 Douglas DC-3
s being the largest private operator of this type of aircraft in the world.
On November 1, 1996, while maintaining its independent air taxi operations, the owners of Rico Táxi Aéreo created Rico Linhas Aéreas, a regional scheduled airline. In 2005 Rico Linhas Aéreas was the largest regional carrier in Brazil serving Acre
, Amazonas, Pará
, and Rondônia
.
However the 2008 economic crisis forced Rico to dramatically down-size its operations: between January and September 2008, Rico cancelled 90% of its operations reducing its participation to 0.02% of the market, operating only within the state of Amazonas.
Rico Linhas Aéreas temporarily suspended all scheduled flights as of June 1, 2010 for a major operational restructuring. Charter operations however continued. On June 7, 2011 the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil
cancelled its operational license but Rico Táxi Aéreo remains operative.
Terminated destinations before the suspension of services:
Eduardo Gomes International Airport
Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes ....
in Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, authorized to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services in the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
region.
The airline was grounded on June 1, 2010 and on June 7, 2011 lost its operational license.
History
Rico Linhas Aéreas was authorized to operate as a regional carrier in 1996 but its history is much older. In 1952, the Turkish immigrant Munur Yurtsever, known as Commander Mickey, who worked as an airplane mechanic in Nova XavantinaNova Xavantina
Nova Xavantina is a town and municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil.-References:...
, Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
, bought an aircraft and started to fly in the region. The operations consisted of transportation of cargo to gold-mining locations of the region using small aircraft.
During the 1960s, Mickey started a small charter and air taxi company called Taxi Aéreo Rondônia, specialized in flying to gold-mining centers of Rondônia
Rondônia
Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon...
and headquartered in Porto Velho
Porto Velho
Porto Velho is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is estimated to be 426,558 people...
. During the construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway
Trans-Amazonian highway
The Trans-Amazonian Highway , was inaugurated on August 30, 1972. It is 5,300 km long, making it the third longest highway in Brazil...
in the 1970s, the company changed its headquarters to Manaus, and provided air services to the big construction companies that were building the highway.
Later, Yurtsever created also Rico - Rondônia Indústria e Comércio, a company that in 1980 would be merged with Taxi Aéreo Rondônia to create Rico Taxi Aéreo.
From 1974 to 1982 Rico Taxi Aéreo maintained a contract with Petrobras
Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
to provide air-transportation while it was searching for oil and natural gas in the Amazonian region. At that time Rico operated 23 Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
s being the largest private operator of this type of aircraft in the world.
On November 1, 1996, while maintaining its independent air taxi operations, the owners of Rico Táxi Aéreo created Rico Linhas Aéreas, a regional scheduled airline. In 2005 Rico Linhas Aéreas was the largest regional carrier in Brazil serving Acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
, Amazonas, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
, and Rondônia
Rondônia
Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon...
.
However the 2008 economic crisis forced Rico to dramatically down-size its operations: between January and September 2008, Rico cancelled 90% of its operations reducing its participation to 0.02% of the market, operating only within the state of Amazonas.
Rico Linhas Aéreas temporarily suspended all scheduled flights as of June 1, 2010 for a major operational restructuring. Charter operations however continued. On June 7, 2011 the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil
National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil
The National Civil Aviation Agency , also known as ANAC, is the Brazilian civil aviation authority, created in 2006...
cancelled its operational license but Rico Táxi Aéreo remains operative.
Destinations
In March 2010, before suspending its scheduled flights, Rico Linhas Aéreas operated services to the following destinations:- BorbaBorba, AmazonasBorba is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Its population was 35,525 and its area is 44,251 km². The city is the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Borba....
- CoariCoariCoari is a Brazilian city , in the Amazon region. It is also one of the largest cities of the Amazonas state. It is the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Coari. The area has reserves of oil and natural gas....
– Coari AirportCoari Airport-Airlines and destinations:a. Airline operating regular charter flights.-External links:... - ManausManausManaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
– Eduardo Gomes International AirportEduardo Gomes International AirportBrigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes .... - ManicoréManicoréManicoré is a municipality located in the south-east of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Its population was 38,148 and its area is 48,282 km²....
- MauésMauésMaués is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Its population was 45,813 and its area is 39,988 km².-Maues - Land of Guarana:...
Terminated destinations before the suspension of services:
- Acre
- Boca do Acre, Cruzeiro do Sul, Rio Branco, Tarauacá
- Amazonas
- Barcelos, Carauari, Eirunepé, Fonte Boa, Humaitá, Ipiranga, Lábrea, Novo Aripuanã, Parintins, Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, São Paulo de Olivença, Tabatinga, Tefé, Vila Bittencourt
- Rondônia
- Costa Marques, Guajará-Mirim, Porto Velho
- Pará
- Altamira, Belém-Val de Cães, Itaituba, Santarém
Fleet
The fleet of Rico Linhas Aéreas includes the following aircraft configured in all-economy class (as of June 2010):| Aircraft | In Fleet | Passengers | Years of operation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante is a general purpose 15-21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft suitable for military and civil duties... |
1 | 19 | 1996-present | |
| Embraer EMB 120RT Brasilia Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia -Accidents:*Brazilian Air Force on July 8, 1988 an Embraer EMB 120RT Brasília registration FAB-2001 crashed during and engine-out landing at São José dos Campos. Five of the 9 occupants died.... |
1 | 30 | 1997-present | 3 operated between 1997 and 2008 |
| Aircraft | Number | Passengers | Years of Operation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 208A Caravan Cessna 208 The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the United States by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers, with a single person crew, although with a FAR Part 23 waiver, it can seat up to fourteen passengers... |
2 | 2000 - 2008 | |
| Boeing 737-200 Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers... |
3 | 2003 - 2008 | |
| Boeing 737-300QC | 1 | 2006 - 2007 | |
Accidents and incidents
- 7 October 1978: Douglas C-47A PT-KVU of RICO Taxi Aéreo was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway on landing at Carlos Prates AirportCarlos Prates AirportCarlos Prates Airport is one of the airports serving Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It is named after the neighborhood where it is located and this, in turn, was named after an Engineer that planned parts of Belo Horizonte.It is operated by Infraero.-History:...
, Belo HorizonteBelo HorizonteBelo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
. All 19 people on board survived. - 30 August 2002: flight 4823Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823 was a short haul domestic Brazillian flight from Cruzeiro do Sul, and Tarauacá to Rio Branco. On 8 August 2002, the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, registration PT-WRQ, flying the route crashed in heavy rain...
operated by the Embraer EMB 120ER BrasíliaEmbraer EMB 120 Brasilia-Accidents:*Brazilian Air Force on July 8, 1988 an Embraer EMB 120RT Brasília registration FAB-2001 crashed during and engine-out landing at São José dos Campos. Five of the 9 occupants died....
registration PT-WRQ, en route from Cruzeiro do SulCruzeiro do Sul International AirportCruzeiro do Sul International Airport is the airport serving Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:...
and TarauacáTarauacáTarauacá is a municipality located in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Acre. Tarauacá has a population of 32,171 people and has an area ....
to Rio BrancoRio Branco International AirportRio Branco-Plácido de Castro International Airport is the airport serving Rio Branco, Brazil. Since April 13, 2009 the airport is named after José Plácido de Castro a politician leader of the Acrean Revolution.It is operated by Infraero....
crashed on approach to Rio Branco during a rainstorm, 1,5km short of the runway. Of the 31 passengers and crew aboard, 23 died. - 14 May 2004: flight 4815Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4815On 14 April 2004, Rico Linhas Aéreas flight 4815 was operating a service from São Paulo de Olivença to Manaus with a stopover in Tefé, Brazil. The Embraer 120ER Brasília registration PT-WRO had 30 passengers and 3 crew on board. The flight was on approach to Manaus but at 18:30 the aircraft dropped...
operated by the Embraer EMB 120ER BrasíliaEmbraer EMB 120 Brasilia-Accidents:*Brazilian Air Force on July 8, 1988 an Embraer EMB 120RT Brasília registration FAB-2001 crashed during and engine-out landing at São José dos Campos. Five of the 9 occupants died....
registration PT-WRO, en route from São Paulo de OlivençaSão Paulo de Olivença AirportSenadora Eunice Micheles Airport is the airport serving São Paulo de Olivença, Brazil.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:...
and TeféTefé AirportTefé Airport is the airport serving Tefé, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-Airlines and destinations:-Accident:*14 May 2004: Rico Linhas Aéreas flight 4815 operated by the Embraer EMB 120ER Brasília registration PT-WRO, en route from Tefé to Manaus crashed in the forest at about 18 nm from...
to ManausEduardo Gomes International AirportBrigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes ....
crashed in the forest at about 18 nm from Manaus. All 33 passengers and crew died.