President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill that amends legislation in the airline industry, but vetoed the return of free baggage checks. The return of checked baggage was included in the text of Provisional Measure (MP) 1089/2021, known as MP do Voo Simples, and approved at the end of May by the Chamber of Deputies.
The MP authorized the free dispatch, without any type of fee, of up to a piece of luggage weighing up to 23 kg on domestic flights and 30 kg on international flights.
Currently, airlines charge a separate amount in the ticket price for baggage of 23 kilos on domestic flights and 32 kilos on international flights. The government said it vetoed the return “out of public interest”.
“However, despite the good intentions of the legislator, the proposition is contrary to the public interest, given that, in practice, it would increase the costs of air services and the regulatory risk, which would reduce the attractiveness of the Brazilian market to potential new competitors and would contribute to the rise in air ticket prices. In summary, the rule would have the opposite effect to that desired by the legislator”, says the justification for the veto.
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The MP do Voo Simples relaxed procedures related to the air sector and the performance of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), overturning several regulations. The text defines the air service as an activity of public interest that, even subject to regulation, can be freely explored by private entities.
Among other points, it establishes that any individual or legal entity may operate air services, in compliance with the rules of the Brazilian Aeronautical Code (CBA) and the civil aviation authority.
With the approval, Anac now has more regulatory control over the creation and termination of airport fees owed by airlines and passengers for the use of the infrastructure. According to the government, the measure was necessary in view of the circumstances imposed by the pandemic of the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
