Chamber approves MP and free to check suitcase on flights goes to sanction

The Chamber of Deputies approved this Tuesday (24) the provisional measure that prohibits the charge for checking baggage on national and international flights.

The text was approved in a symbolic vote and, now, goes to the sanction of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The device that provides for the end of the charge for checking luggage weighing up to 23 kg on domestic flights and a suitcase weighing up to 30 kg on international flights had been included by deputies in the provisional measure. In the Senate, the item was approved separately from the main text.

The charge for checked bags was authorized in 2016, through a resolution by Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency). In 2019, Congress had already dropped the charge for checking baggage weighing up to 23 kilograms on aircraft with up to 31 seats. President Jair Bolsonaro, however, barred the device and parliamentarians maintained the veto.

The MP approved this Tuesday ends the need for concession contracts for airlines, releases the construction of airfields without prior authorization and authorizes companies to bar undisciplined passengers for up to one year.

The text of the provisional measure also revokes the obligation to revalidate grants to companies every five years and simplifies the authorization for foreign companies to operate and with the requirement of CNPJ and branch in Brazilian territory. It also puts an end to the requirement that there be prior authorization for the construction of airfields.

The provisional measure also brings sanctions to passengers considered undisciplined. The airline may stop selling tickets for up to one year to anyone who has committed very serious indiscipline — the civil aviation authority will regulate the acts considered extremely serious, the treatment given to the undisciplined passenger and the measures that will be taken.

The identification data of passengers who commit very serious acts may be shared by those who offered the service with other providers.

The MP also establishes that, if there is a crime in which one of the crew of the aircraft needs to be detained, the aeronautical authority, in addition to informing the police or the competent judicial authority, must take the measures that allow the flight to proceed.

With the approval of the text, the federal government is also authorized to carry out the bidding process under the sponsored concession modality in eight airports in the state of Amazonas. The airports are in Barcelos, Carauari, Coari, Eirunepé, Lábrea, Maués, Parintins and São Gabriel da Cachoeira.