Virgin Atlantic receives approval to operate in Brazil – 07/23/2023 – Market

The British airline Virgin Atlantic was authorized by Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) to operate flights to Brazil. The company should have direct flights between São Paulo and London, according to a publication on Friday (21) in the Official Gazette.

According to the agency, this will be another low-cost airline operating in Brazil, increasing competition among airlines. The expectation is that Virgin will effectively start operating in May 2024, on daily flights.

“New city, new country, new continent. We are very excited to fly to São Paulo, Brazil. Home of samba, caipirinhas, beaches, natural beauty and a rich architectural history. First flights take off on May 13, 2024 and go on sale in August. Hooray!” the airline wrote on its Twitter account in June.

According to the Secretary of Tourism and Travel of São Paulo, the flight will last about 12 hours, and sales will begin in August this year, with tickets starting at £655 (about R$4,000).

The decision was celebrated by the commercial director of Guarulhos Airport, João Pita. “This is a milestone for Virgin, the only gateway to South America. And it is also a milestone for Guarulhos airport, being the first new long-haul airline to offer daily services after the pandemic,” he said.

The British company already has a codeshare (agreement between two or more airlines to share the same flight, the same service standards and the same sales channels) with Latam, which offers connections to 12 domestic airports spread across the country — including Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Florianópolis.

Also according to Anac, another low-cost international airline, Arajet, from the Dominican Republic, was authorized to fly in Brazil last week. The company will operate three weekly flights from Santo Domingo to Guarulhos airport, in São Paulo.

Anac also says that it is evaluating three other requests for authorization from companies that wish to operate in the country: two for passenger transport and one for cargo transport. Currently, there are 33 foreign airlines authorized to operate scheduled commercial flights in Brazil.