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| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996) (as GSA-Globo Serviços & Aerotáxi) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | April 2019; 6 years ago (2019-04) | ||||||
| Hubs | Campo Grande International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 3 (at the time of suspension) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Campo Grande, Brazil | ||||||
| Key people | Luswagner Alexandre Silva (CEO) | ||||||
| Founder | Marcos Ferreira Sampaio | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
GENSA (acronym for General Serviços Aéreos), was aregional airline andair taxi headquartered inCampo Grande,Brazil. It was founded in 1996 inSão Paulo and remained in operation until April 2019, offeringair taxi services andcharters with its only plane.
GENSA's history dates back to 1996, when it was founded in São Paulo as GSA-Globo Serviços & Aerotáxi, anair taxi company focused on charter flights for travel agencies and corporate flights, using anEmbraer EMB 110 Bandeirante, registration PT-SOG (MSN 110490), with the main partner being company Charmclubs Brasil, owned by businessman Marcos Ferreira Sampaio, founder and owner ofPantanal Linhas Aéreas.[1]
With the change of Pantanal Linhas Aéreas operations to the southeast region of Brazil in May 1997, GENSA moved its headquarters toCampo Grande, inMato Grosso do Sul, where it inherited all the infrastructure left by the airline, taking over flights toDourados andPonta Porã using its only plane and later, incorporating a second Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante "borrowed" by Pantanal.
In 1998, it suspended all regular routes previously operated by Pantanal, returned the second plane that had been incorporated a year earlier and transferred its only Embraer Bandeirante toPampulha Airport, inBelo Horizonte,Minas Gerais, to fulfill a transport contract signed with the Italian manufacturerFIAT.
With the end of the contract with FIAT in 1999, GSA-Globo Serviços & Aerotáxi requested authorization from the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) for non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights, and to change its name to GENSA (General Serviços Aéreos), becoming a supplementary transport airline, qualifying to be outsourced to fulfill a contract between Pantanal andPetrobras to transport workers betweenManaus and the oil and natural gas province ofPorto Urucu. The contract with Petrobras ended at the end of 2000 and at the beginning of the following year, GENSA suspended its operations until the end of 2002 to carry out a heavy maintenance process (C-Check) on its only aircraft.
During this period, GENSA transferred its headquarters to São Paulo, returning again to Mato Grosso do Sul in 2002 to restart its operations connectingCorumbá andRondonópolis toCampo Grande from November 17, 2002.[2]
The airline's intention was to increase the number of destinations in Mato Grosso do Sul and expand toMato Grosso with the arrival of another EMB 110 Bandeirante, registration PT-SHN (MSN 110460), and plans to incorporate fourEmbraer EMB 120 Brasilia into the fleet. During this period, the airline also started flying toAlta Floresta,Bonito,Cuiabá,Juína,Matupá,Nova Mutum,Sapezal andSinop.[3]
However, with the resumption ofPassaredo Linhas Aéreas flights in Mato Grosso,[4] GENSA changed its plans and returned to being a charter and non-scheduled cargo airline in 2005.[5] In 2007, it was still planning its return to regular flights and charter flights with EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft; two aircraft, registrations PR-GSA (MSN 120119)[citation needed] and PR-GSB (MSN 120127),[citation needed] were even delivered to the airline in 2008, but never flew and are still today stored atCampo Grande International Airport. The airline then started to offer air taxi services using it's two EMB 110 Bandeirante.
In 2015, GENSA tried again to return to the air market with domestic flights, operating a regular route betweenPorto Alegre andCanela, atourist city located in the Serra Gaúcha, inRio Grande do Sul. The initiative called"Voe CaneLinha" was a partnership with Opções Turismo to connect the capital to the tourism hub in the interior, with six daily flights.[6][7] The project would last a few weeks until operations were suspended due to maintenance problems with its only active aircraft.
On October 17, 2016, GENSA tried again to launch its flights in Rio Grande do Sul, this time through a partnership with Air Sul Viagem Aérea, expanding services and the number of destinations, with flights also toBento Gonçalves,[8] with the aircraft receiving the livery from Air Sul.[9] However, at the end of the same year, flights were canceled due to lack of demand.[10][11]
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In July 2017, GENSA was hired by TWfly Turismo to participate in the"Voe Piauí" initiative, launched by thePiauí state government to promote air connectivity between the capitalTeresina and tourist cities on the coast and interior, such asPicos,São Raimundo Nonato andParnaíba.[12][13][14] However, on November 28, 2017, it suspended all flights due to scheduled maintenance (1C-Check) of the EMB 110 Bandeirante PT-SOG.[15]
At the end of 2017, GENSA transferred its only plane toEduardo Gomes International Airport, inManaus, starting to operate in partnership withManaus Aerotáxi. In April 2019, the company definitively suspended its operations and sold the EMB 110 Bandeirante registration PT-SOG to Manaus Aerotáxi which, on 16 September 2023, suffered a fatal accident during a failed go-around procedureBarcelos Airport, transporting 12 tourists who would dosport fishing in theAmazonas and two pilots; there were no survivors.[16][17]
Throughout its history, GENSA has operated in the following destinations:
| Base | |
| Future | |
| Terminated |
At the time of suspension of operations in April 2019, the GENSA fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[citation needed]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante | 1 | — | 18 | Sold toManaus Aerotáxi in 2019 |
| Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia | 2 | — | 30 | Allstd inCampo Grande |
