15/11/2023 – 19:29
Voa Brasil, a program that the government structures for cheaper air tickets, should reach 2 million to 8 million Brazilians in its first stage, including retirees and pensioners, according to the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho.
“We have the possibility of inserting another 30 million to 50 million Brazilians into aviation. We were unable to create a program for all Brazilians overnight. The first stage will be with specific audiences”, said the minister this Wednesday, 15th, in an interview with GloboNews. The program provides air tickets for R$200.
According to Costa Filho, the program is expected to be launched in January 2024. “We presented Voa Brasil yesterday (Tuesday, 14) to the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa. We must present it to President Lula in December and we hope to announce it in January”, stated the minister.
Costa Filho once again stated that the Brazilian government will not accept abusive prices for airline tickets. “Ticket prices have risen by more than 12% in Europe, more than 15% in the United States and more than 20% in Brazil, but we will not accept unjustified increases. On average, the route in Brazil is R$580, there is no justification for going for R$3,000 five days into the trip,” he said.
On Tuesday, after meeting with the airlines, he stated that the companies will present a plan to reduce ticket prices within ten days.
“We have two problems that concern aviation: the cost of aviation kerosene and judicialization”, he pointed out. According to him, in Brazil, fuel represents 30% to 35% of companies’ costs, while in Europe it is on average 18%. “The government seeks to reduce the cost of aviation kerosene. It’s already down 14%,” he said.
The minister added that the Brazilian government does not have the resources to provide subsidies to airlines. “We want to combat abusive prices. It doesn’t make sense for the tickets to go up to R$4,000”, he criticized.
Regarding the so-called “judicialization” of the sector in the country, Costa Filho highlighted that Brazil accounts for 70% of all lawsuits against airlines in the world. “Judicialization affects the cost of airlines in Brazil by R$1 billion. We spoke with the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and I have already asked the companies to present a proposal to see how we can combat or reduce judicialization in Brazil” , he stated.
Another action cited by the minister is the structuring of the National Civil Aviation Fund (Fnac), which is being processed in the Chamber of Deputies, and provides R$8 billion in capital for investments for airlines, involving financing from BNDES. “We hope that the fund will advance in 20 days and companies will have more working capital for investment”, he assessed.
Foreign companies
The Brazilian government is intensifying the search for foreign airlines to operate in Brazil, according to the minister. “We have resumed dialogue with foreign airlines, such as Chile, Argentina and the American market. We also opened dialogue with the Arabs, showing the country’s aviation growth potential of 30 million to 40 million passengers,” he said. “These conversations entered the priorities of the day”, he pointed out.
He recalled that foreign airlines could not operate in Brazil in the 1990s, which was changed in recent legislation. “In the last four years, we were allowed to operate in Brazil, in fact, and make regional flights, but then the pandemic came,” said Costa Filho, in relation to the low competition in the sector in the country, dominated by three companies.
According to the minister, after the migration of flights from Santos Dumont Airport to Tom Jobim International Airport, Galeão, the government of Rio de Janeiro will develop a public security plan for the area around the airport. “Galeão is an asset for the country. We limit Santos Dumont traffic to 6 million passengers and we can reach 8 million passengers on Galeão. We took our concerns about the Red Line to Governor Cláudio Castro,” he reported.
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