OceanAir

Infobox Airline
airline = OceanAir

logo_size = 200px
fleet_size = 23 (48 on orders)
destinations = 34
IATA = O6
ICAO = ONE
callsign = OCEANAIR
parent =
company_slogan = "Você faz a gente crescer (You make us grow)"
founded = 1998
headquarters = flagicon|Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
key_people =
hubs = Santos Dumont Airport (Rio de Janeiro), Congonhas Airport (São Paulo)
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer = AviancaPlus
lounge = Avianca VIP lounges
alliance =
subsidiaries =
website = [http://www.oceanair.com.br/ www.oceanair.com.br]

OceanAir is an airline based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It operates passenger services from Rio de Janeiro to 30 destinations along the eastern length of Brazil. Its main base is Santos Dumont Airport, Rio de Janeiro.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 58 | date= 2007-04-10]

Germán Efromovich has announced the rebranding of OceanAir as Avianca Brasil in 2008. The same will happen with another airline of the Avianca Group, VIP Ecuador. [ [http://www.panrotas.com.br/canais/redacao/plantao/portal_reader_noticia.asp?cod_not=34189 Efromovich confirms use of Avianca brand in the country] (in Portuguese; retrieved on December 11, 2007)]

History

The airline was established in 1998 as an air taxi company to operate services for oil companies in the Campos Basin. OceanAir began to operate scheduled services in 2002, between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Macaé and Campos. Soon afterwards, it started to become better known to the public with a flight (no longer operated now) connecting Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro via São Paulo-Guarulhos International, enabling international passengers from both cities easy access to the country's largest international hub from those cities' smaller but central and more convenient airports. At the time, OceanAir's fare between São Paulo's airports was cheaper than a taxi and on a par with the luxury bus ride.

In 2004, Synergy Group, OceanAir's parent company, bought Avianca, so now OceanAir feeds Avianca's flight in GRU and vice-versa. This wide partnership between the airlines is already in place. In 2004, OceanAir also bought VIP Ecuador. In 2006, a joint venture formed by OceanAir (49%) and Fondo de Inversiones Sustentables (51%) created a new Peruvian airline called Wayraperú, but the airline suspended operations a few months later. These airlines make up Synergy Aerospace, and coordination of schedules to feed Avianca's network is taking place right now. They will soon all be members of the AviancaPlus FF programme. OceanAir started international operations to Mexico in 2007, with Boeing 767 aircraft. The Synergy Group, which includes other airlines and companies, had a profit of US$ 3 billion in 2005 and investments of US$ 100 million in the last months.

Germán Efromovich, the owner of Avianca and OceanAir, bought 10 Boeing 787, and OceanAir will be the first Brazilian company to fly the Dreamliners. Five Airbus A330 and 30 Airbus A320 will also be added to the fleet, in a contract of US$ 2.5 billion. Deliveries will start in 2010. With this fleet growth, Efromovich intend to have 15% of the Brazilian air market in the next decade, including routes to Mexico, Colombia, Africa and the United States. [Exame Magazine, 18 December 2006]

Destinations

OceanAir flights connect at São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport with those of Avianca, which serves international destinations from its hub at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia.

Fleet

The OceanAir fleet includes the following aircraft (as of 3 October 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=ONE&al_op=1] :

External links

* [http://www.oceanair.com.br/ OceanAir]

References

* Anonymous. "News from the Airways." Airways Magazine: A Global Review of Commercial Flight. March 2008:3