The story of REAL Aerovias, Redes Estaduais Aéreas Ltda, begins with the vision of two former TACA pilots, Vicente Mammana Netto and Linneu Gomes. These two aviation enthusiasts, who also started up Aerovias Brasil, a Brazilian airline that later formed a consortium with Real, laid the foundation of the airline. In November 1945, Mammana and Gomes made a significant investment, buying three Douglas DC-3. This marked the beginning of their journey, and the first flight took off on February 7, 1946, from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. Later, they expanded their operations with a second route, São Paulo to Curitiba.
Real grew by offering low fares because it had lower costs. It is said that it started a fare war, which followed a schedule war. Despite this, Real was able to grow by extending the service to Curitiba and Porto Alegre and opening flights to Londrina and São José do Rio Preto. Real opened many flights to new locations in precarious operating conditions. It had a bad maintenance record, and crews were pressured to fly under adverse conditions. The results were many serious accidents. Real expanded further and bought Linhas Aéreas Wright in 1948, Linhas Aéreas Natal in 1950, and Linha Aérea Transcontinental Brasileira in 1951, expanding its network in the northeast and center-west of Brazil.Real expanded further and bought Linhas Aéreas Wright in 1948, Linhas Aéreas Natal in 1950, and Linha Aérea Transcontinental Brasileira in 1951, expanding its network in the northeast and center-west of Brazil.
In 1951, Real started its first international flight from São Paulo to Asunción via Curitiba and Foz do Iguaçu. The Paraguayan Government also granted Real domestic traffic rights on its route from Asunción to Uruguaiana via Encarnación. Encarnación is the most crucial city in the south of Paraguay.
The year 1954 brought Real the most dramatic growth of its history: by purchasing the already established Aerovias Brasil, Real gained the prestige, experience, and influence it lacked. With the acquisition of Transportes Aéreos Nacional in 1956, a Consórcio Real-Aerovias-Nacional consortium was created to fly on the entire Brazilian territory. Though maintaining legally independent identities, because they were controlled by the same person, Linneu Gomes, the three airlines operated jointly, and in practice, it was Real that controlled the consortium. The consortium dominated the passenger traffic on the triangle of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte, the country's economic center. In 1957 it created a route to Brasília, then still under construction.
To compete with Varig, Real Airlines ordered four L1049H aircraft in May 1957, which were delivered in February/March 1958. These Super Connies served routes connecting Buenos Aires to Trinidad, Caracas, and Miami/Chicago. Over time, the airline expanded its services to include Bogota, Mexico, and Los Angeles. In May 1960, the Los Angeles route was further extended to Tokyo via Honolulu and Wake Island. The expansion took its toll, leading to Varig's gradual purchase of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional between May and August 1961. At this time, the airline also began flights to Chicago-Midway.
Aerovias Brasil, part of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional, bought three Convair CV-990A for its intercontinental routes shortly before the consortium was sold to Varig. Varig could not cancel the order and had to receive and operate those three aircraft.
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