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Flapper launched a tool to help combat clandestine air taxis in Brazil: Fly Legal. The solution allows users to verify whether an air taxi company is authorized to operate in the segment and whether the aircraft to be used meets ANAC’s safety requirements, promoting the guarantee that passengers are boarding safe aircraft and that they have the up-to-date maintenance and licenses.
Fly Legal is based on a web page hosted on the Flapper website (https://flyflapper.com/flylegal). When submitting the registration number, the system returns the status of the aircraft and whether or not it is authorized to carry out public transport. Data is extracted directly from ANAC’s online system and updated every 24 hours.
Brazil is the second largest air taxi market in the world. The segment of chartered flights has increasingly attracted clandestine air taxi companies , popularly known as TACAS. One of the difficulties in distinguishing legitimate companies from illegal ones is due to the fact that many operate under the veneer of legality, with websites and means of contact that appear to have some credibility. Therefore, it is crucial that passengers are always careful when choosing companies with up-to-date homologation. “We are constantly concerned about the safety of our customers. When faced with a scenario of disinformation where the differences between a legal and clandestine air taxi are not clear, we thought of using our technology to solve the problem”, comments Heverton Rodrigues, CTO of Flapper.
“It is widely expected that at least every second air taxi flight in Brazil is organized illegally,” says Paul Malicki, CEO of Flapper. “The greatest danger comes from highly specialized brokers who aggregate hundreds of private planes and sell them directly to pilots, often without the owners realizing it”, adds the executive. This practice represents a high risk for the pilot community, as those involved may lose their licenses when caught performing illegal services.
Flapper’s initiative integrates actions such as the launch of the Voe Seguro application by ANAC. According to Flapper, the main advantage is that Fly Legal is simpler and easier for the end user to understand, in addition to being built into the same platform that is used to hire air taxi services. “In the coming weeks we are going to expand Fly Legal’s scope to all of Latin America and in the coming months to the world.”, adds Heverton.
Despite the challenges, the company is optimistic about the sector. Paul Malicki says: “When we started the business, it took up to 1.5 years to certify an aircraft for commercial operations. Today it can be done in up to 60 days. Authorities have become more efficient and now work closely with the private sector to increase sector security.”
With offices in the main cities of Latin America, such as Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, in addition to Florida (USA) and Europe, Flapper has a base of 1,500 aircraft cataloged and approved by local security authorities. Flapper is also the first broker in Latin America to receive the ARGUS security certification, which proves that the company adheres to industry best practices and is committed to security-oriented charter operations. Only 14 companies worldwide are certified by the audit organization, including Flapper.
For more information about Fly Legal, visit flyflapper.com/flylegal .