Demand for international flights hits highest level since February 2020

The number of passengers carried in international flights was the largest recorded since February 2020, surpassing more than 1.2 million passengers in June this year. The data were released by National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).

Despite this, demand and supply for international flights have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Demand and supply in June this year were, respectively, 31.2% and 32.6%, lower compared to June 2019.

For Ruy Amparo, director of Flight Safety and Operations at Abear, international flights started to grow from the first half of this year, but it is still very unstable.

He says that, in the preliminary data of July this year, the number of flights departing from Brazil to abroad reached 60% of what it was in the pre-pandemic period, with an emphasis on flights departing from São Paulo.

Although it is possible to notice the recovery of demand and offer for these flights, Amparo explains the difficulties of returning to the levels prior to the pandemic of Covid-19 .

“Unlike the domestic flight, you need to have more predictability to open for sales and place a flight. To reopen an international flight, you need to hire an airport team, schedule air traffic, etc. It’s much more complicated.”, he says, who still cites the impacts of the pandemic and the war on Ukraine demand and supply for international flights.

Ruy also comments that foreign tourists who are coming to Brazil take advantage of the appreciation of the dollar against the real, which makes the trip cheaper. In addition, he points out that the month of June for many countries, especially Europeans, is a period of extended vacation.

Despite still being short of pre-pandemic, the director celebrated the results.

“The big message is that the worst is over. The world economy is restructuring itself to a new situation. Companies are still in debt, and it will still take some time for the situation to normalize. But we already see a positive scenario and improvements for the future”.

internal flights

In the domestic market, the offer of flights presented, for the second consecutive month, better indicators than those observed in the pre-pandemic period.

In June this year, the supply was 0.5% higher than in June 2019 and 45.8% higher than in June of last year.

Regarding passenger demand, there was a growth of 36.2% compared to June 2021. However, there was a retraction of 7.1% compared to June 2019.

load record

In terms of international cargo transportation by air, June broke the record in the historical series (started in 2000) in terms of volume.

83 thousand tons of cargo were transported. In comparison with June 2019, there was a 25.5% increase in this volume and 5.5% compared to June last year.

According to Anac, this indicates the sector’s recovery trend after the global economy was impacted by the pandemic.

According to Ruy Amparo, this record number reflects the impacts of external factors, mainly the war in Ukraine, on maritime freight.

“The price of sea freight is not yet standardized. There were significant increases. Transporting by plane has always been more expensive than by ship. Usually cargo with high added value comes by plane, as it is faster and has a short shelf life, and cargo with less urgency comes by ship. However, with the current scenario, many things that came by ship are coming by plane, such as car parts”, he points out.

Anac also released figures on movement at the country’s airports. In June, more than 6 million people passed through the terminals. This was the highest number for a month of June since 2020. In comparison with May this year, there was an increase in movement of 43%, and a reduction of 13.2% compared to June 2019.