Flight offerings in Brazil expand ahead of World Cup

Brasília – The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Brazil's airline regulator, announced Thursday (Jan. 16) an addition of 1,973 flights to the current airline offerings to address increased demand during the FIFA World Soccer Cup in Brazil (June 12-July 13).

Airlines have requested a total 80,000 flights – including changes to existing flights and new flight services – which will operate between June 6 and July 20. This number accounts for 42% of the country's total flights.

According to ANAC CEO Marcelo Guaranys, the agency has adjusted the flight schedules for airport capacities. Since airlines have until January 31 to accept the schedules, propose new changes, or give up requests, the number of new flights is not final yet.

The air routes in greatest demand were those for Galeão (Rio de Janeiro) to Ezeiza (Buenos Aires), Juscelino Kubitschek (Brasília) to Guarulhos (São Paulo), Fortaleza (Ceará) to Guarulhos, Santos Dumont (Rio de Janeiro) to Viracopos (Campinas, São Paulo), and Galeão to Aeroparque (Buenos Aires). Most requests were made by leading Brazilian airlines like Azul, Gol, Avianca, and TAM.

Guaranys denied concerns that the new flight additions could create “airline chaos” in the country during the World Cup, emphasizing that the existing airport capacities to handle flights and passengers were taken into account when considering airline requests. Regarding airports under construction, he said: “We are considering projects near completion. For other expansion projects, we might decide to offer new flights going forward.”

According to Guaranys, ticket prices are expected to decline from now on as the flight offerings increase based on the match venues for each team. Still, ANAC will keep a close watch on the fares: “We are monitoring the prices of tickets sold between now and the World Cup every two weeks. We audit this information and monitor the fares. Any abusive pricing will be reported to customer protection agencies so we can take appropriate action together.”

Translated by Mayra Borges