Such as we anticipated at the end of last year, following information from an internal Itapemirim press release, at least three aircraft will be leaving Brazil in the next few days.
The airline claims that the reason for sending the aircraft is the need for preventive maintenance, although industry sources believe that it is a return at the request of the aircraft owners (the lessors).
Company sources confirmed to AEROIN that two of these aircraft are PS-ITA (MSN 2395) and PS-SFC (MSN 2156), both owned by DCAL 2 Leasing Limited. These are the only two aircraft of this owner in the Itapemirim fleet, as the other four (PS-AAF, PS-TCS, PS-SPJ,0 and PS-MGF) are owned by UMB Bank and there is one more, model A319 (PS-SIL, which never flew at ITA), leased to Hi Fly Malta.
The aircraft will leave Brasilia (PS-SFC) and Rio de Janeiro (PS-ITA) at the end of this week for Marana, in the California desert, according to sources.
With the departure of these two, the company’s fleet will be reduced to five aircraft in Brazilian territory. The communication to employees stated that a third aircraft would also be sent from Brazil, but the registration of this aircraft has not yet been confirmed.
Itapemirim suspended operations on December 17, citing «operational adjustments», just six months after launching scheduled flights.
