Brazil announces historic US$10.6m investment in new flights and seats

Brazil’s federal government has announced a historic US$10.6m investment on its International Tourism Acceleration Program (ITAP) for 2025, generating at least 500,000 new international flight seats. The program will be rolled out in phases throughout 2025, beginning in late January with a call for proposals focused on regular international flights to unserved regions such as Northeast Brazil. In March 2025, the call for charter flights will be launched, followed by sub-regional domestic flights in the second half of the year. Brazilian Tourist Board President Marcelo Freixo, (Visit Brasil/Embratur), highlighted the program as a leap forward from the pilot project implemented in 2024. "Regionalizing our measures for each region of Brazil seems to be the right approach, as different regions face different challenges. I want to see the Northeast competing head-to-head with the Caribbean and to achieve this, we need to integrate regional promotion. This is a significant step toward generating jobs, income, and development for society," he said. The initiative stems from collaboration within the Brazilian federal government, a joint effort by Embratur, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Ports and Airports. He stated, "We've been working together since the first week. What we deliver today is the result of that collaboration. From an initial US$0.8m investment on IATA Winter 2024/25, to over U$10m, with equal or higher investments of airlines and airports we are on the right path.”<br/>