RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Minister of Infrastructure, Tarcísio Freitas, said on Monday, July 15th, that he expects a drop in airfares as of September.
According to the minister, in addition to the arrival of new companies, those already operating in Brazil are expected to increase flight availability.
The minister mentioned that Gol and Latam are bringing more planes to operate in Brazil, which will increase the number of flights.
“This supply shock will lead to a decrease in fares, and we will start to see this as of September,” said the minister during a press conference on the six months of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The minister said that in addition to the end of foreign capital restrictions on Brazilian airlines, which was passed into law this year, reducing the tax levied on aviation kerosene and reducing the regulation of the sector would contribute to the decrease in flight fares.
“We are improving excessive regulation through Anac [the National Civil Aviation Agency], and we are going to have a deregulation initiative,” the minister said, without mentioning which points of regulation would be changed.
More expensive fares
Data from Anac pointed out that the price of airfare on domestic flights increased in April. A technical report by the agency points out that this increase was influenced by the withdrawal of Avianca Brasil from the market.
According to the agency, from April last year to April this year, the average price of airline tickets in Brazil increased 30.9 percent. Meanwhile, regarding the routes which Avianca ceased to operate, the average price increase was 39.9 percent.