Brazil bill would deter low-cost carriers, regulator says

Changes to a bill that opens up Brazil’s airline industry to foreign investment may scare off low-cost carriers, the head of the country’s aviation regulator said in an interview. The regulatory agency, known as Anac, is concerned that lawmaker-backed changes mandating airlines to fly to smaller airports and also forbidding them from charging for baggage could make Brazil unattractive for companies like Sky Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle. To avoid that problem, it is important that Congress approves the proposal in its original format, Anac head Jose Ricardo Botelho said. “This bill is the last step that would allow an increase in investments, jobs and competition in Brazil,” Botelho said. “We want to bring in low-cost companies, but if the changes proposed in Congress go through, that won’t be possible.” Brazil has been working for years to encourage greater competition and investments in its domestic airline industry that’s currently dominated by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, Latam Airlines and Azul. Those efforts gained new impetus under the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, who took power earlier this year pledging to lure investments, boost public accounts and jump-start Latin America’s largest economy.<br/>