See what you can change with free checked baggage

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The Senate approved this Tuesday (17), by 53 votes to 16, the return of free dispatch of one piece of luggage per passenger on national and international flights. With validity until June 1st, MP (Provisional Measure) 1.089/21 goes to the Chamber. If approved, it will be sanctioned or vetoed by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who defends the current model.

Today, the charge for checking bags weighing up to 23 kg on domestic flights, which began in 2017, can add between R$90 and R$350 per segment, depending on the airline and destination.

For experts and sources in the sector, the return of free shipping should drive low-cost companies (which sell cheaper tickets) even further away from the Brazilian market. It is also expected that airlines will stop selling tickets with cheaper fares, used by those who travel only with hand luggage.

As the proposal is not yet valid in practice, companies and industry representatives do not inform their estimates of impact on prices.

“Each company will evaluate and position itself when it [gratuidade] become a fact. It is worth remembering that there is no free luggage, as all passengers will have to pay this bill. That’s how it used to work: the cost of checking baggage was spread over all tickets”, says the president of Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines), Eduardo Sanovicz.

Each airline defines the amount charged to check the bag. If you need to check more than one bag or it exceeds the weight allowed, they can still charge for the extra volume to be transported.

If the text approved by the Senate becomes law, only the extra volume will be charged separately.

The sector’s expectation in 2017 was to maintain the fall in the value of tariffs that had been verified since 2003, but the high exchange rate and kerosene reversed the movement in recent years.

According to IBGE data, airline tickets rose 9.4% in April, while the IPCA, the main inflation index, accumulates a high in 2022 of 4.29%. With the rise in the dollar and in aviation fuel, airfare becomes more expensive with or without the requirement for free luggage.

Sanovicz says that airlines continue to deal with the rise in the price of aviation kerosene (QAV), pressured by the increase in the price of a barrel of oil, because of the war in Ukraine. Another concern of the sector is the exchange rate of the dollar against the real. According to Abear, 50% of the sector’s costs are in dollars.

The return of the mandatory baggage allowance should remove the interest of low cost companies (low cost) to operate in Brazil. The concept appeared in the United States in the late 1970s, after the liberalization of the sector, and has been famous in Europe since the 1990s.

To get lower fares than traditional airlines, low cost airlines charge for carrying luggage and booking a seat.

When Brazil announced the implementation of charging for the baggage allowance, at least eight foreign companies, seven of them low cost, showed interest in operating in the country. Plans were delayed by the pandemic.

“With the return of the franchise, maybe they won’t come back”, says the president of Abear.

How billing works today

  • Passengers can carry one carry-on bag of up to 10 kg free of charge
  • To take larger bags, you have to pay a fee that currently varies around R$ 100 in the main Brazilian companies
  • Companies are obliged to make clear the amount of the charge

how can it stay

  • Passengers will be able to check baggage weighing up to 23 kg on domestic flights and up to 30 kg on international flights, free of charge.
  • There will be a provision in the Consumer Defense Code that prohibits airlines from charging fees for this order.

Cost to check the 1st bag of up to 23 kg on domestic flights*

*Values ​​as of May 12, 2022, according to airlines

early on boarding day extra volume
Latam BRL 95 to BRL 120 BRL 120 to BRL 160 BRL 175 (between 23 kg and 32 kg)
BRL 350 (from 32 kg to 45 kg)
Goal BRL 95 BRL 140 BRL 35 (per extra kilo)
Blue BRL 90 (website, app and Azul Center) BRL 140 (at the airport) R$120 to R$160 (at the airport)

Cost to check 1st bag up to 23 kg on international flights*

early on boarding day extra volume
Latam US$100 to US$200 (Latin America) US$30 to US$70 (Other countries) $80 to $120 (other countries) US$100 to US$200 (Latin America)
$100 (other countries)
Goal BRL 199 BRL 299 BRL 50 (per extra kilo)
Blue

$20 (South America)
$50 (US and Europe)

​$30 (South America)
$100 (US and Europe)

$40 to $60 (suitcase up to 23 kg for Latin America)
$100 to $150 (US and Europe)

Check the average domestic rate over the last 10 years

Year Value (in BRL)
2012 508.66
2013 532.22
2014 508.39
2015 462.71
2016 454.14
2017 451.51
2018 455.3
2019 491.67
2020 420.59
2021 501.69
2022 (until March) 487.58

Sources: Azul, Gol, Latam and Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency)​

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