With passenger numbers forecast to jump 15 % over the Christmas–New-Year peak, Brazil’s Ministry of Ports and Airports activated the annual “Operação Fim de Ano” on 19 December, a multi-agency plan that runs through 5 January 2026. The operation pools staff from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the Brazilian Association of Airport Operators (ABR) and the country’s three largest airline groups under trade body ABEAR. More than 200 ANAC inspectors have been seconded to 15 high-traffic hubs—among them São Paulo/Guarulhos, Brasília, Rio’s Galeão, Recife and Salvador—to monitor check-in queues, security lanes and baggage carousels via a new real-time “war-room” dashboard that tracks on-time-performance and passenger-complaint data.
Airlines have positioned spare aircraft and instructed station managers to comply strictly with Resolution 400 compensation rules. Airports, meanwhile, opened pop-up service desks and launched WhatsApp delay alerts in English and Spanish, a first for Brazil and a boon for corporate travellers unfamiliar with Portuguese.
![Brazil deploys 200 extra inspectors to 15 airports for holiday surge]()
Amid these operational tweaks, travellers who still need to secure the new Brazilian e-Visa can save valuable time by using VisaHQ’s digital platform. The company guides applicants through the entire process, verifies documents and submits everything remotely—eliminating the need for consulate visits—and offers a single dashboard for mobility managers to track multiple requests. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/brazil/.
For mobility managers the message is two-fold: flows should be smoother than in previous years, but inspectors have authority to issue spot fines for overweight carry-ons and improper transport of lithium-battery devices. Companies are advising travellers to arrive three hours before international departures, upload e-Visas or physical-visa scans to mobile wallets and retain receipts for delay-related expenses.
The ministry is also treating the campaign as a stress test ahead of Carnival 2026, when daily movements are expected to exceed 2025’s record by another 8 %. Travel-risk consultants urge multinationals to run tabletop exercises, check that duty-of-care databases contain current emergency contacts and revisit contingency plans for missed connections and overnight layovers.
Airlines have positioned spare aircraft and instructed station managers to comply strictly with Resolution 400 compensation rules. Airports, meanwhile, opened pop-up service desks and launched WhatsApp delay alerts in English and Spanish, a first for Brazil and a boon for corporate travellers unfamiliar with Portuguese.
Amid these operational tweaks, travellers who still need to secure the new Brazilian e-Visa can save valuable time by using VisaHQ’s digital platform. The company guides applicants through the entire process, verifies documents and submits everything remotely—eliminating the need for consulate visits—and offers a single dashboard for mobility managers to track multiple requests. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/brazil/.
For mobility managers the message is two-fold: flows should be smoother than in previous years, but inspectors have authority to issue spot fines for overweight carry-ons and improper transport of lithium-battery devices. Companies are advising travellers to arrive three hours before international departures, upload e-Visas or physical-visa scans to mobile wallets and retain receipts for delay-related expenses.
The ministry is also treating the campaign as a stress test ahead of Carnival 2026, when daily movements are expected to exceed 2025’s record by another 8 %. Travel-risk consultants urge multinationals to run tabletop exercises, check that duty-of-care databases contain current emergency contacts and revisit contingency plans for missed connections and overnight layovers.
