RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While general price increases affect everyone in Brazil, the rise in airfares has been much more pronounced, affecting the sector’s recovery and discouraging people from traveling.
According to IATA data, the increase in the cost of aviation fuel is taking place worldwide, averaging 11.6%. This has a direct impact on the price of airline tickets.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, demand for aviation kerosene used by jets and turboprops increased by 14.6% from the first week of April to May. In the U.S. and Canada, the increase was 9.6 percent during the same period.
Fuel has driven up ticket prices as the main cost factor for the country’s airlines. In the U.S., the increase from March to April was 18.6%, while inflation was around 8%, according to the Department of Labor.
The situation is similar in Brazil, where the increase is almost double the official inflation rate. According to the IBGE, the increase in airfares is 9.48%, while the IPCA, the main inflation index, peaks at 4.29% in 2022.
The skyrocketing is expected to continue in the coming months as school vacations approach in both countries (increasing demand for flights) and because there is still no clear short-term solution to the Ukraine war.