Hopes of a quick recovery evaporated on 19 December when FlightStats data confirmed a further 54 departures were cancelled at Campinas-Viracopos, São Paulo/Guarulhos and Curitiba’s Afonso Pena airports. About 9,000 passengers—many already rebooked from earlier disruptions—saw itineraries collapse for a second time.
Azul suffered most because Viracopos is its main hub, but LATAM and American Airlines also trimmed long-haul services after spare aircraft were tied up in heavy maintenance and crew rotations unravelled. Ripple effects were felt as far as Santiago and Buenos Aires, where missed connections stranded travellers overnight.
![Second wave of cancellations hits Viracopos, Guarulhos and Curitiba—another 54 flights axed]()
To help companies react quickly when those disrupted itineraries trigger unexpected border crossings, VisaHQ offers an online platform that delivers up-to-date entry requirements and expedited visa processing for Brazil and surrounding countries. Travel managers can upload employee details, monitor application dashboards and arrange emergency documentation in minutes via https://www.visahq.com/brazil/, turning a potential compliance headache into a manageable checklist.
Regulator ANAC has summoned carriers to an extraordinary meeting and is considering temporarily relaxing night-curfew rules at secondary airports so airlines can clear backlogs. Travel-risk consultancies are advising corporates to diversify routings—using Brasília or Porto Alegre as gateways—and to verify hotel inventories near secondary airports for stranded staff.
Mobility teams should also re-check visa validity for employees who may need unexpected overnight stays in third countries, and update traveller-tracking tools so duty-of-care alerts reach staff with revised flight numbers.
Azul suffered most because Viracopos is its main hub, but LATAM and American Airlines also trimmed long-haul services after spare aircraft were tied up in heavy maintenance and crew rotations unravelled. Ripple effects were felt as far as Santiago and Buenos Aires, where missed connections stranded travellers overnight.
To help companies react quickly when those disrupted itineraries trigger unexpected border crossings, VisaHQ offers an online platform that delivers up-to-date entry requirements and expedited visa processing for Brazil and surrounding countries. Travel managers can upload employee details, monitor application dashboards and arrange emergency documentation in minutes via https://www.visahq.com/brazil/, turning a potential compliance headache into a manageable checklist.
Regulator ANAC has summoned carriers to an extraordinary meeting and is considering temporarily relaxing night-curfew rules at secondary airports so airlines can clear backlogs. Travel-risk consultancies are advising corporates to diversify routings—using Brasília or Porto Alegre as gateways—and to verify hotel inventories near secondary airports for stranded staff.
Mobility teams should also re-check visa validity for employees who may need unexpected overnight stays in third countries, and update traveller-tracking tools so duty-of-care alerts reach staff with revised flight numbers.
