With Lula da Silva’s inauguration, the search for a flight to Brasília takes off, prices up to US$1,325

The inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) next Sunday (1st) helped to significantly increase the demand for flights to Brasília over the New Year’s Eve weekend.

The volume of searches for flights to the federal capital between December 30 (Friday) and January 2 (Monday) soared by around 1,600% in the combined volume of October and November compared to the same period in 2019 , the last year of “normal” tourism without the impact of the pandemic.

Those who left to look for a ticket to Brasília at the last minute will pay more than four times the average fare for that destination, which is R$1,477 (US$279.5) for round trips.

According to Google Flights, Google’s air ticket search tool, tickets (round trip) leaving São Paulo cost between R$2,250 (US$426) and R$7,000 (US$1,325) this Monday afternoon (26), depending on the time and the number of scales. Values are subject to change.

The increase in prices is not just explained by tourists who want to see the inauguration: the change in power has intensified the trips of workers from the transition team who will form the new government, as well as those who will stop working in the federal capital and return to your cities.

Brasilia is the destination with the highest variation in the average price of airfare (+74%), in the comparison of 2022 with the same period of 2019 (pre-pandemic), according to Kayak, the travel platform responsible for the survey. Maceió had the second highest change in the average price (+52%), followed by Salvador (+45%).

SCHEDULED CONCERTS

The demand from tourists is explained not only by the inauguration ceremony, scheduled for the afternoon, but also because free concerts by more than 20 artists are scheduled, such as Pabllo Vittar, Gaby Amarantos, Martinho da Vila, Chico César, Maria Rita, Fernanda Takai, Teresa Cristina, Johnny Hooker, Odair José, Otto and Valesca Popozuda, among others.

The ranking published by Decolar for New Year’s Eve trips puts Brasília in 8th place with the highest number of flight searches on the website and application of the online travel company.

Rio de Janeiro leads the list, followed by Recife (Pernambuco), São Paulo (capital), Fortaleza (Ceará), Salvador (Bahia), Maceió (Alagoas) and Natal (Rio Grande do Norte).

According to projections by Brasília International Airport, around 150,000 passengers should pass through the terminals between New Year’s Eve and the first days of January.

Inframerica, the concessionaire that manages the terminal, informed that 1,050 landings and takeoffs are expected in the federal capital between December 30th and January 2nd.

“Part of the movement foreseen in the period is related to the disembarkation of passengers who are heading to the city with the objective of attending the presidential inauguration”, said Infraframerica in a note.

The greater flow of passengers at Brasília airport in the high holiday season and with political events contrasts with the reality of commercial aviation at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020, when aircraft were left on the ground due to the closure order of borders.

With information from Bloomberg