Fokker 27-600 TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais S.A.
Registration: PT-LAF Type: F27-600P Engines: 2 × RR Dart Mk.532-7 Serial Number: 10177 First flight: Mar 5, 1961
By the mid-1970s, the Brazilian government realized that a large country needed to be connected by air routes. The "Brazilian Integrated System of Regional Air Transportation" program was born, designed to connect remote regions with the center of the national economy.
In 1976, under the flag of the TAM Group holding company, which already included TAM – Táxi Aéreo Marília, a new airline was founded – TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais. And although both companies belonged to the same holding, they performed different tasks: one remained faithful to air taxi service, the other mastered regular passenger transportation between cities.
The company's first aircraft was the turboprop Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante – a child of Brazilian aviation industry. These 19-seat aircraft were quite suitable for short regional flights. But soon the small EMB-110s could no longer handle the growing passenger traffic. TAM needed more spacious aircraft, but Brazilian regulations were strict as monastic rules.
The solution was an ingenious decision: the company acquired three used Fokker 27s, sending them for major overhaul in Holland. The government agreed to the import of foreign machines, but set conditions: for each Fokker, the company had to operate three EMB-110s, and the passenger capacity of the Dutch aircraft should be reduced to 40 seats instead of the standard 45. By 1983, TAM's fleet already counted 10 Fokker F27s, and passenger traffic grew from one million people in 1981 to two million in 1984. And these figures confirmed the enterprise's success better than any words.
Time passed, and in 1989 TAM acquired its first two jet Fokker 100s from the bankrupt Pan American World Airways. This step was symbolic: the company's turboprop era was coming to an end, the time of jet aviation was beginning.
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