President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government wants to attract at least five international low-cost airlines to Brazil with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the operators already present in the country and bringing about a reduction in air fares.
See also: Flybondi to extend flights between Buenos Aires and Florianópolis
Brazilian government wants to attract new low-cost airlines
In the middle of last week, Ports and Airports Minister Márcio França said the administration’s focus is on attracting «four or five» large companies.
He argued that their participation in the Brazilian market would force domestic airlines to adjust to compete and help lower ticket prices.
According to França, at least one of them has already confirmed it will operate in Brazil, while the second will do so soon. However, it is not yet known which carrier it is.
The airlines that are being lured to Brazil are Argentina’s Flybondi, United States’ JetBlue, United Arab Emirates’ Flydubai, United Kingdom’s easyJet and Ireland’s Ryanair, which is currently the largest low-cost carrier in Europe.
The «social air ticket»
Another of the current government’s measures to boost the Brazilian airline market was announced last March: the «Fly Brasil» (Voa Brasil) programme, a kind of «social fare» with tickets at 200 reais (about 38 USD).
Márcio França himself revealed the plan in an interview with the newspaper Correio Braziliense and mentioned how the administration that took office on 1 January this year intends to fulfil its promise to get «the poor to travel by plane again». He also assured that it will mean «a revolution in Brazilian aviation».
According to our Brazilian media partner AEROIN, the aim of the initiative is to fill empty seats on domestic flights, which account for an average of 20% of the total. The tickets, which interested parties will be able to purchase through the operators’ sales portals, will be subject to availability.
The Brazilian government’s plan is that there will be no subsidies, but that an agreement will be reached with the airlines so that each public employee earning up to 6.800 reais a month (1.300 dollars), as well as students, retirees and pensioners, can use two round-trip tickets a year.
In the last few days, it became known that the initiative would begin in August with the participation of Azul, Gol and LATAM, Brazil’s three largest airlines. According to the minister, the federal government has yet to reach agreements with the concessionaires responsible for the airports. However, the carriers’ adhesion is already confirmed.
See also: Brazilian government proposes «social air ticket» so that «the poor can travel by plane again»
