TABA Boeing 707
The huge size of Brazil and the Amazon jungle made air travel a necessity for the nation as soon as it became feasible. After World War II and into the 1960s, a huge number of small airlines flew routes in Brazil. One of these was Norte Taxi Aereo (NOTA), which flew small Beech 18s between destinations in northern Brazil. When a rival air carrier, Paraense, went out of business in 1970, NOTA bought up Paraense's fleet of Fokker F.27s and Curtiss C-46 Commandos.
In 1975, the Brazilian government divided up the country into regions; each region was given its own airline in an effort to clear up the chaos. Since NOTA was already in strength in the northern regions of Brazil, it was awarded the contract for that region. The airline changed its name to Transportes Aereos da Bahia Amazonica, or TABA. Once more it expanded its services, and replaced its ancient Beech 18s and the C-46 with EMBRAER EMB-110 Bandierantes.
TABA did well in the 1980s, and when the Brazilian airline industry was deregulated in 1991, extended its route network south to Rio de Janiero and north to Guyana. As its F.27s were showing their age, these were replaced by new Bombardier Dash 8s.
Unfortunately for TABA, deregulation also meant increased competition, and it found itself facing increased maintenance costs. The Brazilian economic downturn of the 1990s hurt it as well. The airline attempted to cut back on services and sold off its Dash 8s, but costs were spiraling out of control. In 1999, TABA ended operations and went out of business.
This attractive scheme may have been used by TABA in the 1970s, when Bary Poletto built this model; it is unknown where he got the idea from, as TABA never operated Boeing 707s.
TABA Boeing 707
The huge size of Brazil and the Amazon jungle made air travel a necessity for the nation as soon as it became feasible. After World War II and into the 1960s, a huge number of small airlines flew routes in Brazil. One of these was Norte Taxi Aereo (NOTA), which flew small Beech 18s between destinations in northern Brazil. When a rival air carrier, Paraense, went out of business in 1970, NOTA bought up Paraense's fleet of Fokker F.27s and Curtiss C-46 Commandos.
In 1975, the Brazilian government divided up the country into regions; each region was given its own airline in an effort to clear up the chaos. Since NOTA was already in strength in the northern regions of Brazil, it was awarded the contract for that region. The airline changed its name to Transportes Aereos da Bahia Amazonica, or TABA. Once more it expanded its services, and replaced its ancient Beech 18s and the C-46 with EMBRAER EMB-110 Bandierantes.
TABA did well in the 1980s, and when the Brazilian airline industry was deregulated in 1991, extended its route network south to Rio de Janiero and north to Guyana. As its F.27s were showing their age, these were replaced by new Bombardier Dash 8s.
Unfortunately for TABA, deregulation also meant increased competition, and it found itself facing increased maintenance costs. The Brazilian economic downturn of the 1990s hurt it as well. The airline attempted to cut back on services and sold off its Dash 8s, but costs were spiraling out of control. In 1999, TABA ended operations and went out of business.
This attractive scheme may have been used by TABA in the 1970s, when Bary Poletto built this model; it is unknown where he got the idea from, as TABA never operated Boeing 707s.