Ticket price boom the latest obstacle for Brazil’s aviation sector

The coronavirus pandemic delivered a once-in-a-lifetime blow to the aviation industry, as social isolation grounded nearly all flights for the better part of 2020. As countries timidly began to reopen to the world, fears of the Delta variant caused additional hiccups to the industry. Now, as vaccine rollouts progress in Brazil, the scenario finally looks more positive for the resumption of tourism. 

However, ballooning ticket prices could leave the sector taxiing for a while longer.

As of October 12, 70 percent of the population was already immunized with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine — almost 150 million people — and 46 percent of Brazilians were already fully vaccinated.

According to Eduardo Sanovicz, head of Brazilian airlines association Abear, vaccination is by far the main reason for the sector’s optimism, especially with regard to domestic flights. 

“At the peak of the pandemic, we had less than 8 percent of our domestic fleet in the air compared to the pre-crisis period. And now, we’ve ended September with approximately 74 percent of the domestic network flying and our forecast is to reach 100 percent over the first quarter of next year,” Mr. Sanovicz tells The Brazilian Report. 

Regarding international travel, the path is more treacherous. The segment ended the third quarter of this year with just 23 percent of international flights in operation compared to the same period in 2019. However, with the near complete stoppage of foreign travel...