Itapemirim's plan is clear. Although the corona crisis is raging particularly hard in Brazil, the airline branch of the largest Brazilian bus company wants to start operating on short routes next year. But Itapemirim is no longer the only airline start-up with ambitions in the South American country.
Planning for Nella Linhas Aéreas began three years ago. In February 2020, the Brazilian investment company JKL Holdings officially founded Nella, reports the Airway 1 portal. While Itapemirim wants to focus more on business travellers, Nella will concentrate on connecting remote cities.
«We see how unsupported many regions of Brazil are,» says Maurício Souza, head of JKL Holdings. «We intend to [...] serve various regions of Brazil with smaller aircraft,» says the manager. The current plan is to start with four ATR 42s. The short-haul aircraft with turbopropane propulsion have room for 44 passengers.
At a later date, the deployment of the larger sister model ATR 72 is also planned. A launch date has not yet been fixed for Nella. But preparations are already concrete: the company is in contact with the authorities for certification and is already planning the route network, says Souza.
