GOL

GOL Linhas Aéreas is a Brazilian airline that has spent the last two years rebuilding itself. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in New York on 25 January 2024, continued flying throughout, and exited the process in June 2025. It now sits inside Abra Group, the holding company it shares with Colombia's Avianca, and in 2026 it began preparing for its first widebody aircraft. The name is the Portuguese borrowing of the football word "goal".

Origins

GOL was set up in 2000 as GOL Transportes Aéreos and flew its first service on 15 January 2001, from Brasília to São Paulo. It was created by Grupo Áurea, the Constantino family's transport group, which also runs long-distance bus services. Its shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2024.

Two acquisitions shaped the following decade. In March 2007 GOL bought the assets of the "new" Varig, the company that had acquired the Varig brand after the original airline's collapse; it kept the Varig name in use until 2013. In 2011 it agreed to buy Webjet Linhas Aéreas, and when that purchase was approved the Webjet brand was closed in November 2012 and its flying folded into GOL. Smiles, the frequent-flyer programme that came with Varig, has been GOL's loyalty scheme since July 2006; it was spun off as a separately listed company in 2013.

Low-cost or not?

GOL describes itself as a low-cost carrier, and its corporate profile stresses low unit costs and the idea of making air travel accessible. Some Brazilian commentators have questioned the label, arguing that its costs are not very different from those of full-service rivals. Its current fare structure has elements of both: a Basic fare, sold only on international flights, that includes neither the small cabin case nor a checked bag, rising through Light, Classic and Flex to Premium Economy and two Insignia Business fares on international routes.

Network and fleet

The main hubs are São Paulo–Guarulhos and São Paulo–Congonhas, with secondary hubs at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão and Brasília, and focus operations at Rio–Santos Dumont, Salvador, Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte. GOL's maintenance centre is at Belo Horizonte–Confins.

The fleet has been all Boeing 737 since the start. At 31 March 2026 GOL's investor relations site listed 146 aircraft: 12 737-700s, 68 737-800s, 57 737-8 (MAX) and nine 737-800 converted freighters used for its GOLLOG cargo business, leaving 137 passenger aircraft. That changes in 2026: on 6 March Abra Group confirmed that up to five Airbus A330-900neo widebodies would be allocated for GOL's use, with deliveries scheduled during the year, as part of Abra's plans to grow regionally and internationally.

Recent changes

• Abra Group was announced on 11 May 2022, bringing GOL and Avianca under one owner. In November 2025 Abra announced it would add Chile's SKY Airline to the group; by 5 June 2026 Brazilian and Chilean authorities had approved the deal, with Peruvian approval pending.
• A memorandum of understanding signed on 15 January 2025 about a possible combination with Azul was terminated, along with the GOL–Azul codeshare, on 25 September 2025.
• After a tender offer in early 2026, the operating company Gol Linhas Aéreas S.A. absorbed the former listed parent, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., on 1 April 2026.
• On 13 August 2026 GOL announced that chief executive Celso Ferrer would leave at the end of August, with André Fehlauer, previously head of Smiles, becoming CEO in September and chief operating officer Albert Perez adding the role of president.