The president of the Chilean low cost airline JetSmart, Estuardo Ortiz, pointed out that the company continues with its plan to start a domestic operation in Brazil, but that it will wait until demand picks up before taking new steps. In a separate development, the company announced Thursday the authorization from the Peruvian government to operate domestic flights. This is the third country in South America where the airline will have local flights, besides Chile and Argentina. At the same time, the executive pointed out that the company expects to resume flights to Brazil in the second half of the year, as the Chilean government signaled today that it will loosen health restrictions on international travelers.
“Operating the domestic market in Brazil is a project we’ve always considered and we’ve worked very closely with National Agency of Civil Aviation (Anac) on it. It is not going to be so soon, we are still very early in the recovery of the air market. We will see how the market behaves to decide later”, said the executive, talking to journalists after a panel at Wings of Change, an International Air Transport Association (Iata) event that discusses the sustainable future of aviation.
Before the pandemic shook the global air market, several companies sought Brazilian regulators to start the certification process to operate in the domestic market — among them were Air Europa and Norwegian. Intentions gained momentum when Brazilian regulators allowed, in 2019, international groups to set up a company to operate in the domestic market — with the release of 100% foreign capital. The pandemic, however, has caused many of plans to be postponed.
On the JetSmart side, Mr. Ortiz said the focus now is on starting operations in Peru in the second half of the year. JetSmart arrived in Peru in 2017 on international routes connecting the capital Santiago to Lima, Arequipa and Trujillo. The operation will be with Airbus A320neo.
On the side of international flights to Brazil, the company recently closed down the operation it was performing connecting Santiago and Foz do Iguaçu — the only route to the country. The flights, he said, were focused only for the summer season.
The executive said that the company tried to negotiate with the government of Paraná a reduction in the taxes on fuel, but it failed — Brazil is known for having one of the highest rates on the oil product in the world. Talks with the government continue.
* Cristian Favaro traveled at the invitation of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Source: Valor International