Brazil and Argentina have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing an open skies policy in the air market between both countries, which will end weekly limits on scheduled passenger flights and allow seventh freedom cargo operations.
Through the policy, which Brazil’s civil aviation authority (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - ANAC) and its Argentine counterpart (Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil - ANAC) approved on March 13, carriers from both countries will be able to freely determine the number of flights they intend to offer, Brazil’s ANAC said in a statement. Until now, airlines have been constrained to a maximum number of 170 weekly flights.
The ch-aviation schedules module shows that Aerolíneas Argentinas, Flybondi, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, LATAM Airlines Brasil, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, and JetSMART operate regular scheduled services between both countries. Additionally, several non-Argentinian/Brazilian carriers operate fifth-freedom flights: Air Canada, British Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, and Turkish Airlines.
The MOU also allows cargo airlines from both countries to operate freighter services without requiring them to start or end in the company’s country of origin. Brazil has been negotiating similar seventh freedom cargo rights with other Latin American countries such as Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Neither authority has announced when the policy will be implemented. However, these recent changes come on the back of President Javier Milei's preference for a more liberalised aviation market in the country. Late last year, he abrogated legislation which had regulated Argentina's air service agreements and restricted domestic traffic rights to Argentinian airlines.
