São Paulo – Brazil and Saudi Arabia still do not have a direct air route, but an agreement signed at the end of September opens opportunities and makes it easier to establish a nonstop flight between Brazil and its largest trading partner in the Arab world. The additional protocol to the Air Services Agreement was signed by the president of Brazilian civil aviation regulator ANAC, Tiago Chagas Faierstein, and the president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Alduailej, in Montreal, Canada.
The two countries already had an agreement, negotiated in 2012 and signed in 2015, on passenger air transport. However, that document did not include the new flight operation regulations that have come into effect since. It has therefore been updated. ANAC told ANBA it has been working to update international agreements by replacing outdated clauses.
The new instrument removed the requirement for Brazilian capital for airlines to operate in the country and expanded the rights known as “fifth freedom,” which allow carriers to operate flights between the destination country and third countries. For example, an Arab airline could fly between São Paulo and Buenos Aires, Argentina, as long as the flight originated in its home country. There is no longer a limit on weekly cargo flights. For passenger flights, the limit is now 21 weekly frequencies—it was seven flights before.
ANAC reported that there haven’t been any formal requests from airlines to operate direct flights between the two countries. “However, there is an expectation that, with the signing of the Protocol of Amendments, future initiatives may emerge from companies interested in exploring the Brazilian market, considering the strategy of international expansion of Saudi aviation,” the agency’s statement said.
Among Arab countries, Brazil has direct flights with the United Arab Emirates operated by Emirates, with Qatar operated by Qatar Airways, and with Morocco on the route between Casablanca and São Paulo operated by Royal Air Maroc.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
