Brazil’s civil-aviation regulator ANAC published Portaria 18.249/2025 late on 14 November authorising Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat to operate regular passenger and freight flights to and from Brazil. The approval follows the airline’s completion of safety audits and demonstrates compliance with Brazil’s notoriously stringent economic-fitness rules.
Air Transat is now free to lodge schedules, request airport slots and negotiate handling contracts, paving the way for potential Montréal- or Toronto-origin services to major Brazilian gateways as soon as the northern-winter 2026 season. Market analysts note that Air Transat’s Airbus A321LR fleet is ideally sized for thinner city-pairs such as Montréal–Recife or Toronto–Salvador, destinations popular with Canadian snowbirds and increasingly with offshore-wind and mining executives.
![Brazil clears Air Transat for scheduled passenger and cargo services]()
For Brazilian outbound travellers, the entry of a low-cost leisure player could place downward pressure on traditionally high trans-American fares and introduce through-checked baggage agreements with domestic partner Azul, with whom Air Transat already interlines in the Caribbean.
Corporate travel managers should watch for competitive business-class products: Air Transat has retrofitted its A330-200s with lie-flat Club Class seats and is trialling bundled fares that include e-Visa processing fees—an attractive perk since Brazil reinstated visa requirements for Canadians earlier this year.
Air Transat is now free to lodge schedules, request airport slots and negotiate handling contracts, paving the way for potential Montréal- or Toronto-origin services to major Brazilian gateways as soon as the northern-winter 2026 season. Market analysts note that Air Transat’s Airbus A321LR fleet is ideally sized for thinner city-pairs such as Montréal–Recife or Toronto–Salvador, destinations popular with Canadian snowbirds and increasingly with offshore-wind and mining executives.
For Brazilian outbound travellers, the entry of a low-cost leisure player could place downward pressure on traditionally high trans-American fares and introduce through-checked baggage agreements with domestic partner Azul, with whom Air Transat already interlines in the Caribbean.
Corporate travel managers should watch for competitive business-class products: Air Transat has retrofitted its A330-200s with lie-flat Club Class seats and is trialling bundled fares that include e-Visa processing fees—an attractive perk since Brazil reinstated visa requirements for Canadians earlier this year.
