Brazil to push for end to airline foreign ownership cap

Brazil's govt plans to remove foreign ownership limits on domestic airlines through a presidential decree or an act of Congress this year, transportation minister Mauricio Quintella said Monday. Facing opposition from some senators, interim president Michel Temer agreed in June to partially veto a decree allowing foreigners to own up to 100% of Brazilian airlines. That will leave maximum foreign ownership of airlines at 20%, but Quintella said the govt still wants to lift the cap altogether. A two-year recession has curbed air travel in Latin America's largest country and weakened the local currency, which battered the profitability of Brazilian airlines by driving up the cost of fuel and aircraft leases. <br/>