The same Gol Linhas Áreas Inteligentes that announced with pomp, at the iconic Copacabana Palace on the night of Thursday, 12th, the definitive internationalization of the brand, with four weekly flights from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, starting on September 16th, in addition to routes to New York, Paris and Orlando, is the same one that in 2024 was experiencing one of the most serious crises in the history of Brazilian aviation.
Between 2024 and 2025, given the high losses, still a result of the pandemic, Gol had to resort to judicial protection in the United States, Chapter 11, to reorganize its finances. At the most critical moment of the crisis, the total debt exceeded 31 billion reais (around 5.1 billion euros).
And, even after the start of the restructuring, the numbers remained under pressure: in April 2025 the net debt was still around approximately the same numbers, with worrying operational results: revenues of around 1.7 billion reais (around 280 million euros), but a net loss of around 440 million reais (around 73 million euros).
To guarantee the company’s survival and finance the reorganization, it was necessary to raise new resources in the market, including financing of around 1.375 billion dollars, equivalent to approximately 1.26 billion euros, in addition to the conversion of part of the debts into equity.
In 2025, the first indicators of improvement: gross debt fell to around 25.5 billion reais, that is, 4.2 billion euros, after renegotiations with creditors and changes in the company’s financial structure.
It is in this context that Gol seeks to “conquer new frontiers”, “shorten distances” and “cross oceans”, as Celso Ferrer, the company’s CEO, said at the event at the Copacabana Palace. But Gol’s CEO recalled the company’s recent difficulties and how it recovered. “We emerged from a recovery process, in 2025, stronger and more consistent and we have been the most punctual airline in Brazil for five consecutive years, recognized by Anac [Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil]”.
The recovery makes a stop in the capital of São Paulo. “Lisbon, without a doubt, is always at the top of the ranking of potential markets for Gol, Portugal’s connection with Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, especially, is incredible, you see it in the architecture, in the flavors, in even family relationships”, highlighted Ferrer.
Furthermore, “we are TAP’s biggest partners in Brazil and TAP was the one we made a point of speaking to first, even knowing about the problems at the local airport”, he highlighted. “In relation to Porto, we got slots, and we will try flights at a later stage”, added the executive.
Until now, Gol operated mainly on domestic flights in Brazil and to some destinations in South America, the Caribbean and the United States.
Anyone who wanted to travel between Portugal and Brazil, without connections, would have to use the Brazilian LATAM Airlines or Azul Linhas Aéreas or the Portuguese TAP Air Portugal, which has the South American country as its largest market outside of Portugal.
News on board
In announcing the new flights, Gol also announced the creation of the Magno and Business Insignia By Gol classes, whose attributes range from seats, which become beds, to headphones with active noise cancellation, including exclusive check-in, the possibility of anticipating, rescheduling or canceling flights (24 hours a day) and cuisine led by a chef, Felipe Bronze.
The investment includes, on the other hand, the addition of five Airbus A330-900 aircraft to the fleet, a model with a capacity of 300 seats and up to 15 hours of range, signaling a new diversification strategy for a company that, for 25 years, only operated with the Boeing 737 model.
Last week, the company launched a new international hub in Galeão with the presence of the President of the Republic, Lula da Silva, and the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho.
Gol is part of the Abra Group, with alliances with Avianca, American Airlines and Air France-KLM, which result in 60 codeshare e interlineagreements between airlines to facilitate travel with connections between different companies.
Founded by businessman Constantino de Oliveira Júnior, Gol began commercial operations on January 15, 2001 with the proposal to operate in a low-cost model, something still not widespread in the Brazilian market at that time.
The company began by being linked to Grupo Áurea, a traditional Brazilian conglomerate in the road transport sector, and quickly gained ground in the domestic market, by investing in more affordable tickets.
During the 2000s, expansion was rapid and included the acquisition, in 2007, of the traditional airline Varig, a business that expanded routes and international presence, but also brought strong financial and operational challenges, due to the differences between the management models of the two companies.
The Brazilian economic crisis from 2014 to 2016 and the pandemic from 2020 and 2021 also affected the entire Brazilian airline sector, including Gol. The recovery is now underway and with Lisbon on the way.
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