Brazilians travel again and domestic flights reach 90% of the pre-pandemic level

The domestic flight market in Brazil closed the month of November at almost the same level as the pre-pandemic period, informed this Tuesday (14) the Iata (International Air Transport Association).

Dany Oliveira, president of the organization in Brazil, says that the demand for flights was 91% compared to the level of 2019. In comparison with the same period in 2020, November this year already had a movement 40% higher.

For the domestic market for flights, that is, those connecting destinations within the country, Iata hopes that the losses and cuts in lines that took place during the health crisis will be fully overcome in 2022. Among international connections, however, recovery should only occur from 2023.

“Brazil only beats Argentina in connectivity in relation to other countries in Latin America. Restoring air connectivity depends on the collaboration of governments and industries, based on simple practices, eliminating uncertainties so that travelers understand the rules”, said Oliveira.

On the international scene, the omicron variant of the coronavirus is the main concern in terms of the resumption of connectivity between countries. The confusion of sanitary rules, according to the director of IATA, is a point of doubt.

During the pandemic, the association even developed an application called Travell Pass, which seeks to unify access to information, as well as the obligations that allow passengers to access different destinations.

“Governments are creating new restrictions. We are seeing an impact, but not as it was last year,” said the director of Iata.

For domestic flights, the main difficulties for the sustainability of the sector are, according to the executive, the price of aviation fuel, the devaluation of the real against the dollar (almost 70% of the companies’ costs are in American currency) and the high judicialization activity in Brazil. Iata says the country holds the world record in lawsuits against airlines.

Aviation fuel is already almost 100% more expensive this year than in 2020. “The bigger it is, the more difficult it is to have access to more competitive fares.”

With the pandemic showing signs of weakening, Iata wants to resume an agenda that had been defined in 2019, to seek with the federal government the review of regulatory frameworks, in order to reach what the association considers to reduce bureaucracy in the sector.

Iata says that Brazil has immense potential to gain market share in aviation. The country has about 100 million passengers, the equivalent of 0.5 trips per capita. In countries like Canada and the United States, this proportion is 2.5 to 3 trips per capita.

One of the central points of Iata’s agenda for 2022 is to discuss the judicialization of the sector. “We can’t think it’s normal for Brazil to be world champion [de ações judiciais]. What existed in 2019 is unacceptable. We have to take advantage of the resumption to resolve this,” stated Oliveira.

In 2019, national companies suffered 154,000 lawsuits, an increase of 141% compared to 2018. Last year, the absolute number of lawsuits fell, as landings and take-offs were also reduced, but the proportion in relation to the total was still high, according to Ricardo Bernardi, Iata’s legal advisor.

He says that 90% of the processes occur due to problems with baggage and due to delays and flight cancellations. While in Brazil, the proportion was, in 2019, one share for every 1.8 flights, in the United States, this ratio is one share for every 12,685 flights.