ANAC discusses new flights between Brazil and Argentina with Norwegian

The low-cost airline Norwegian already operates in Argentina today and has expressed an interest in offering passenger services between the two countries.

President of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), José Ricardo Botelho, said on Tuesday 6th March that he has discussed the offer of new flights between Brazil and Argentina with representatives from Norwegian.

According to Botelho, Norwegian is the third largest low-cost carrier in the world.

Technicians from the company and the agency will have a meeting this Wednesday 7th at the ANAC offices to discuss routes to Brazil. And Botelho has said that the agency's board should meet with Norwegian's chairman, Bjørn Kjos.

In addition to the routes to Argentina, the technical discussions will cover the possibility of flights between Europe and Brazil.

As well as Norwegian, another airline, FlyBondi, has asked the Argentine government to operate routes between the two countries. However that request has not been officially received yet by ANAC.

Both Norwegian and FlyBondi already operate in Argentina.

Foreign Capital

Because of Brazilian legislation, which prevents the entry of airlines with 100% foreign capital, these companies cannot make internal flights within Brazil. However, they can make flights between Brazil and other countries.

Despite this permission, to date none of the low-cost airlines fly to Brazil, Botelho said.

According to him, this interest reflects the recent regulatory changes in the Brazilian civil aviation market, including the rule that allows charging for baggage dispatch.

"What we are doing is changing our regulatory approach and these companies are slowly realising that we are a market of 210 million inhabitants, with the possibility of tremendous growth”, said Botelho.