Airfare will rise more after Petrobras readjusts jet fuel, say companies

Airfares will increase again in the coming days, according to companies in the sector. Petrobras announced this Tuesday (5th) another readjustment, of 3.9%, in the average price of aviation fuel in 15 refineries.

Also known by the acronym QAV-1, the fuel is used in planes and helicopters and accounts for one third of airline costs.

With this Tuesday’s readjustment, the item accumulates a high of 70.6% in 2022 alone, after having risen 92% in the whole of last year compared to 2020.

“Prices got completely out of control. What’s the point of having PIS/Cofins on kerosene zeroed and lowering the ICMS ceiling by seven points if Petrobras increases the price by 70%? way”, says Eduardo Sanovicz, president of Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines).

The price of QAV in Brazil is up to 40% more expensive than the global average, largely because of Petrobras’ current pricing policy, criticizes Sanovicz, pointing out that the state-owned company charges in dollars an input with domestic production exceeding 90% .

Abear says it has intensified its talks with the government for a public policy to reduce the price of fuel.

According to the most recent data available from Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency), the real average air fare recorded a rise of 12.6%, comparing the accumulated value from January to April 2022 (R$ 580.41) with the actual average air fare of last year (R$ 515.22).

In a report published last Friday (1st), Anac says that the main indicators of air transport in the domestic market reached levels close to what was determined before the beginning of the pandemic.

On domestic flights, 6.4 million passengers were transported, a decrease of 10% compared to May 2019.

In the international market, 1.2 million passengers were transported, which represents a decrease of 36.5%.