Manaus Aerotáxi was founded in April 1998 by pilot Marcos J. Pacheco, focused on transporting passengers and cargo through the interior of Amazonas, where several cities and communities are inaccessible by land, being possible only through the waterway or air, the latter considered an essential service.[4]
On May 18, 2011, Manaus Aerotáxi founded MAP Linhas Aéreas, a regional airline focused on regular air transport of passengers and cargo in the Brazilian Amazon region. MAP's name is the acronym for Manaus Aerotáxi Participações, the corporate name of its parent company. Subsequently, the two companies became part of the economic group MAP Aviação Eduardo Gomes International Airport, in Manaus, the airline's headquarters.[6]
On October 1, 2014, Manaus Aerotáxi became a contractor for the Brazilian Ministry of Defense, leasing four turboprops aircraft to transport cargo of interest to the Regional Works Commission of the 12th Military Region, linked to the Brazilian Army, based in Manaus.[7]
On August 21, 2019, the economic group MAP Aviação, which controls Manaus Aerotáxi, and MAP Linhas Aéreas, announced the sale of 100% of its shareholding in the regional airline MAP to Passaredo Linhas Aéreas, which on the same day announced its rebranding to VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas.[8][9][10]
New visual identity
As of September 2020, Manaus Aerotáxi started to adopt a new visual identity on its aircraft, in the colors blue, white and gray, replacing the green color previously used. The first plane to receive the new livery was the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan registration PR-MNS (MSN 208B2065), on September 14, 2020. The airline's logo was also updated, becoming blue and gray, accompanied by the slogan "Da Amazônia para o Brasil" (From the Amazon to Brazil, in English).[11]
On February 7, 2009, the Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante of Manaus Aerotáxi, registration PT-SEA, operating an air taxi flight between Coari and Manaus with 26 passengers and 2 crew, disappeared from radars 20 minutes before landing at Eduardo Gomes International Airport. The wreckage of the plane was later located by Brazilian Air Force (FAB) search and rescue teams in the Manacapuru River, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the Amazonian capital. The two crew and 22 of the 26 passengers on board died.[14][15][16]
On September 16, 2023, during the beginning of the fishing season in the Amazon, the Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante of Manaus Aerotáxi, registration PT-SOG, operating a charter flight carrying two crew members and 12 tourists from different regions of Brazil between Manaus and Barcelos for sport and recreational fishing in the Rio Negro, crashed during a failed go-around attempt in heavy rain at Barcelos Airport. All 14 passengers and crew died.[17][18]
