Brazil will enter the 2026 season with an unprecedented expansion of its international air network. In a joint briefing on 13 February the Ministry of Tourism and the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) confirmed that airlines have secured traffic rights for 64 new overseas routes and 16 additional weekly frequencies. Flag-carrier LATAM dominates the list with first-ever non-stops from São Paulo/Guarulhos to Amsterdam, Brussels and Cape Town, while GOL, Azul, Air France, Iberia, Air Transat, Copa and the ultra-low-costs Flybondi and JetSMART round out the approvals.
The move reflects pent-up demand after three years of pandemic recovery and a government push to make Brazil a continental hub ahead of COP-30 in Belém and the 2027 Women’s World Cup bid. Business travellers will welcome the return of a long-missing Brussels link—critical for Brazil-EU trade talks—while the Cape Town flight slashes transit times between two of the southern hemisphere’s largest economies. Tourism boards in Fortaleza and Salvador, meanwhile, expect double-digit growth thanks to new Iberia, Air France and Copa services.
![Brazil Adds 64 New International Routes for 2026, Strengthening Global Connectivity]()
Travel documentation will be another box to tick for passengers planning to hop on the newly announced flights. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) streamlines the process of checking entry requirements and securing visas for Brazil and every country now connected via the expanded network, providing corporate travel departments and individual flyers with real-time updates, application support and door-to-door passport logistics.
Behind the scenes, ANAC used a fast-track slot allocation procedure that requires airlines to start flying within 90 days or forfeit the authority—an effort to prevent speculative hoarding. Carriers have already filed schedules in the global distribution systems, and corporate-travel managers should update booking tools now so travellers can see the new options when they go on sale next week.
Practical implications: companies can re-route Europe-bound staff away from congested hubs like Paris and Frankfurt; travel‐policy teams should revise permissible connection times; and assignees to Brasília and Belo Horizonte gain one-stop access via the new Fortaleza and Salvador gateways. Duty-of-care teams should also note that some of the new services—particularly Flybondi’s Boeing 737-800 operations—use secondary terminals with limited lounge access.
The move reflects pent-up demand after three years of pandemic recovery and a government push to make Brazil a continental hub ahead of COP-30 in Belém and the 2027 Women’s World Cup bid. Business travellers will welcome the return of a long-missing Brussels link—critical for Brazil-EU trade talks—while the Cape Town flight slashes transit times between two of the southern hemisphere’s largest economies. Tourism boards in Fortaleza and Salvador, meanwhile, expect double-digit growth thanks to new Iberia, Air France and Copa services.
Travel documentation will be another box to tick for passengers planning to hop on the newly announced flights. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) streamlines the process of checking entry requirements and securing visas for Brazil and every country now connected via the expanded network, providing corporate travel departments and individual flyers with real-time updates, application support and door-to-door passport logistics.
Behind the scenes, ANAC used a fast-track slot allocation procedure that requires airlines to start flying within 90 days or forfeit the authority—an effort to prevent speculative hoarding. Carriers have already filed schedules in the global distribution systems, and corporate-travel managers should update booking tools now so travellers can see the new options when they go on sale next week.
Practical implications: companies can re-route Europe-bound staff away from congested hubs like Paris and Frankfurt; travel‐policy teams should revise permissible connection times; and assignees to Brasília and Belo Horizonte gain one-stop access via the new Fortaleza and Salvador gateways. Duty-of-care teams should also note that some of the new services—particularly Flybondi’s Boeing 737-800 operations—use secondary terminals with limited lounge access.
