On this January 15th, the GOL Linhas Aéreas Completing 22 years of operations, this was the country's first low-cost and low-fare airline, changing several practices for Brazilian engers. In this article we will talk a little about the trajectory of the 'little orange' and show the current scenario.
Destinations and cities served
Officially launched in August 2000, it made its first flight on January 15, 2001 with a Boeing 737-700 departing from Brasília to Congonhas in São Paulo at 06:56 in the morning.
GOL started its first routes to 10 cities, including São Paulo at Congonhas Airport and also in Campinas, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Brasília, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Recife. The company ended 2001 with 17 cities served.
Still in 2001, the company obtained authorization from the DAC, at the time, to operate on the largest route in the country, the Rio-São Paulo airlift.
A little over a year later, the company founded by Constantino de Oliveira Júnior was already flying to all regions of Brazil. In 2004, the company reached its first international base in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2005, GOL already served all capitals in Brazil, and consolidated its hub in the airports of Brasília, São Paulo (CGH), Rio de Janeiro (GIG). International expansion continued to reach more cities in Argentina, as well as Santiago in Chile and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.
As the years ed, GOL opened new domestic bases and pushed its hubs as well as its international network. In 2009, it began operating its first flights during the high season to Aruba in the Caribbean, departing from Guarulhos International Airport. Bases were also added in Caracas, Barbados and Punta Cana.
- See the whole story of GOL, the first low cost airline in Brazil, by clicking here.
Also in 2009, it allowed its customers to fly to Europe through a partnership agreement with Air /KLM on codeshare flights and also an agreement with American Airlines. The company was looking to take on even bigger flights in 2012 with the start of flights to the US with a stopover in Santo Domingo.
Nowadays, the domestic network of GOL serves more than 72 bases in Brazil, including regional routes. The company also serves 14 international destinations on its own flights in 10 countries.
Today, Brasília Airport and Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo have flights to all capitals in the country through GOL's network, consolidating two of the company's major hubs.
Fleet
GOL began its trajectory with a new and modern fleet, with only the Boeing 737-700 as a model. Initially there were seven aircraft, most of them new from the factory.
For some years the 737-700 continued to be the main aircraft of the company, in 2002 the first 737-800 started to arrive but it was still far from being the main aircraft.
At the end of 2002, GOL's fleet reached 19 aircraft, of which 15 were 737-700s and 4 were 737-800s. The fleet would gain a 'new plane' to help the company's expansion from 2004 onwards, with the arrival of the Boeing 737-300 that would come to 'plug' the hole for some time.
With an enviable profit, a lean operation, 'orange' in 2005 placed the largest order of a Brazilian airline, the order was for 63 Boeing 737 aircraft.
The new planes began to arrive in 2006, already with the innovative Short Field Performance package that would allow the company to operate at Santos Dumont Airport with greater capacity and lead the offer of seats.
In a short time, the Boeing 737-800 became the backbone of GOL's fleet, a number that was increased to 41 aircraft at the end of 2007, suring the number of the -700 version in the fleet.
With the acquisition of Varig in 2007, the company also had widebody aircraft for the first time in its history, the Boeing 767 with versions -200 and -300 were now in the company's fleet.
This also increased the number of 737-300 aircraft that were inherited from Varig, an aircraft that GOL was gradually returning due to its operating costs.
The Boeing 737-800 remained sovereign in the fleet year after year, with GOL operating more than 100 aircraft of the type in 2013. The 767s left the fleet in 2011, the same year that the airline received the first copy of the 737 with the new Sky Interior.
Some 737-700s began to be returned, as well as some older 737-800s replaced with new ones and with the SFP package. In 2018, GOL received its first Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The new plane would allow the company to resume its plans to fly to the USA, but with a greater range, the 737 MAX allowed GOL to make direct flights to Miami and Orlando from Brasilia, its hub, and also from Fortaleza.
With the grounding of the world's 737 MAX fleet, GOL honored its engers' tickets, but in some cases made a technical stopover in Punta Cana, both on the outward and return flights. In 2020, it was the first in the world to fly the aircraft after the new certification and started its fleet modernization plan.
In 2022, the company would use, for the first time in its history, an aircraft fully dedicated to the transport of cargo. Using old 737-800s, GOL converted them and put them back into operation, but as freighters in partnership with Mercado Livre.
Currently, GOL's fleet has 141 aircraft, of which 19 are 737-700s, 84 are 737-800s including the two freighters, and 38 are 737 MAX 8s.
At the beginning of the company, the aircraft in its fleet were configured in only one class, today they are configured in two classes of service: GOL+ Conforto and other seats on domestic flights and GOL Economy and other seats on international flights.
See some special liveries made by the airline over the years, by clicking here.
Curiosities
- In just 6 months of operation, GOL reached the mark of one million engers transported.
- It was the first airline to sell tickets online.
- GOL was once the 4th most profitable airline in the world, the fact occurred in 2004.
- It was the first in the world to operate the Boeing 737 with the Short Field Performance package of operational improvements.
- It was the first airline to use facial recognition service for check-in
- In 2020, GOL launched the check-in process via the WhatsApp application, as well as the on-board pound translation application.
- It was the first company to carry out a flight with internet via Wi-Fi on board.
- GOL is one of 13 airlines in the world to be recognized with an IATA stage 1 certificate in Environmental Assessment.
- For 10 years it has been the carrier and official sponsor of the Brazilian soccer team, with three themed aircraft.
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the first Brazilian airline to offer free fares to health professionals.
- On several occasions, GOL launched promotions in the anniversary cities, with the value of only R$1 real on the return leg.
- Under the concept of low cost and low tariff, the company has already operated with the lowest tariff in the market for a long time, forcing competitors to reduce their prices.
- For the maintenance of its fleet, GOL has its aircraft maintenance unit with units in Confins, Congonhas and Brasília called GOL Aerotech.
- In order to have a better operation, GOL removed the galley ovens from its fleet, giving it more space to place seats. The in-flight service was unprecedented in Brazil, with cereal bars and drinks that soon evolved into hot sandwiches.
