The Ministry of Ports and Airports is studying to expand the so -called cabotage aviation to the Northeast, if the practice is released in Brazil. The proposal, which is being processed in the National Congress, proposes that companies Foreign aerials operate domestic flights in the Legal Amazon region.
The project changes the Brazilian Aeronautics Code, which currently limits the offer of domestic flights to Brazilian companies. The proposal states that airlines that are authorized to operate in Brazil may offer domestic stretch, provided that the flight has as its origin or destination airports located within the Legal Amazon region.
If the government’s proposal advances and the practice is released, foreign airlines may operate domestic sections in the Northeast and the Legal Amazon.
“In the federal government, studies assume that any approval of these projects should prioritize the regions of lower connectivity, such as the Legal Amazon and the Northeast. If approved in Congress, the cabotage will allow the entry of international companies to operate specific routes without the opening of the other country to Brazil,” MPOR said in a statement. at CNN.
There were two projects – Bill (PL) No. 4392 of 2023 and PL No. 4715 of 2023 – on air cabotage in the National Congress. The texts were attached to the PL 1007 of 2024. The bill awaits the rapporteur, Deputy Stélio Dener, in the Amazon Commission and the original and traditional peoples, in the House of Representatives.
The proposal was submitted with the justification that there is no provision of air services by Brazilian companies regularly in the Legal Amazon. The evaluation is that proximity to South American countries could attract the interest of South American companies to operate domestic flights in the Brazilian region.
Connectivity
In the evaluation of the former director of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) Ricardo Fenelon, there must be “little interest” of foreign airlines operate domestic flights in the Legal Amazon, if the practice of cabotage is released in Brazil.
“The expectation is of little interest in these routes. If they were profitable and attractive, we would already have our companies [brasileiras] offering more flights. Airlines have full freedom of routes and tariffs, ”said Ricardo, who is also a partner of Fenelon Barretto Rost Advogados.
“If it’s a route [doméstica] which is not operated by a Brazilian company, it is probably not a profitable route. If it is a route that has no flights from a Brazilian company, it will hardly have another company. If the Brazilian company does not operate, it is because it is not profitable and attractive, ”he added.
Fenelon also points out that air cabotage is not a common practice, as airlines meet regulation criteria and the country’s legislation in which it operates. Airlines wishing to carry out flights in Brazil need to obtain Anac authorization before the operations began.
“I do not believe that simply allowing an airline to fly, the route is attractive. I believe it is unlikely. I do not think it is recommended to allow cabotage in Brazil because it is a unanimous concept among countries that have aviation developed not to have cabotage,” said Fenalon.
For Vinicius Lummertz, former Tourism Minister and former president of Embratur, the release of air cabotage in Brazil can be positive, as long as it included within a national air connectivity plan.
Lummertz defends the creation of a program by the federal government that aims to connect more cities and more airports, from the definition of goals and the establishment of long -term strategies.
“The project is very positive. It could even be expanded to US companies. But a national plan with regional airports is still missing and we are going towards further burden with tax reform,” the former minister said.
According to Lummertz, the release of air cabotage isolated, that is, outside a national level, does not completely solve the challenges of airlines in Brazil, such as high cost and low incentive. The former president of Embratur argues that there are tax incentives for the sector.
“When you have a plan, you do the studies and set the goals. It’s a good initiative, but it’s the real world you will say. The real world is demand. If there are planes. There are tax incentives, if there is no demand, but it is useful for the region, it is important that the national connectivity plan thinks of possibilities,” said Lummertz.
