The federal government’s Voa Brasil program sold around eight thousand flights, with tickets priced up to R$200, as long as was released at the end of July. The number of tickets corresponds to approximately 0.26% of the three million tickets made available, in this initial phase, to 23 million retirees of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS), regardless of income bracket, and who have not traveled in the last 12 months.
In response to Brazil Agencythe Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) – responsible for the civil aviation social inclusion program – declared this Thursday (5) that ticket sales numbers are expanding. “The platform has received more than 100 thousand hits so far, meaning there is interest from retirees. The numbers will grow, according to the program’s offering and advertising,” predicts MPor.
Voa Brasil is carried out through a partnership between MPor and the country’s main airlines. Therefore, there is no cost to the federal government for offering tickets.
Main destinations
Despite the low number of ticket sales through Voa Brasil, MPor celebrated that the program had more than 500 options of routes sold to more than 60 Brazilian cities.
Of the total of eight thousand tickets sold by Voa Brasil, 44% of the tickets sold are concentrated in cities in the Southeast region and 41% in the Northeast. Among the most sought-after destinations are the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Recife and Salvador. Outside the Southeast-Northeast axis, Brasília is one of the locations with high demand for flights by the program’s target audience.
Silvio Costa Filho, Minister of Ports and Airports, during an interview on the program A Voz do Brasil. Photo: Valter Campanato/Agency Brazil
Most trips originate from Guarulhos and Congonhas airports in São Paulo and Galeão in Rio. In terms of passenger movement at regional airports, the highlights were the terminals in Petrolina in Pernambuco, Vitória da Conquista in Bahia and Caxias do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul.
In a statement, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, explained that Voa Brasil contributes to increasing the number of flights and passengers in the air transport sector. “More than just including new Brazilians in the air transport sector, the program is an opportunity for people to reunite with family and friends, get to know new cities or return to unforgettable destinations,” he said.
“We will encourage many retirees to travel around the country, especially at this time of growth in our aviation sector. In this first phase of the program, we hope to include more than 1.5 million tourists who have never traveled by plane,” estimates the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho.
How to buy
Voa Brasil has flights to all states, some operated by more than one airline. INSS retirees can check all the offers for airline tickets and other information on the program’s official website. [ https://www.gov.br/portos-e-aeroportos/pt-br/assuntos/conheca-o-voa-brasil ] . To access the system, you must have a gold or silver profile account on the federal government’s single digital services portal, Gov.Br.
If you can’t find a flight to the desired city, you can search for a nearby city and/or alternative dates for your next trip. MPor’s tip is, for example, to search for the outbound and return flights from different companies, to increase the possibility of finding tickets on the desired dates.
Another recommendation is to plan trips in advance and give preference to days with lower demand, such as Tuesday to Thursday, and low season periods, between March and June or August and November.
The benefit is personal and non-transferable. This means that only the holder may travel. The limit of R$200 per leg does not include boarding fees charged at the time of payment. Boarding fees vary depending on the airport. Tickets purchased through Voa Brasil entitle you to one piece of hand luggage (up to 10 kilos) and one small bag or backpack.
Fly Brazil
The program’s strategy is based on taking advantage of available seats on low-occupancy flights and allows airlines to adjust their offerings according to demand. Airlines define the routes and the number of seats to be made available within the program.
Payment options are defined by the airline issuing the tickets, as are refund requests. In the event of cancellation of the ticket after payment has been made, the benefit will not be refunded.
The Ministry of Ports and Airports expects to launch the second phase of Voa Brasil in the first half of 2025 to include students from public education institutions in the list. “We are working to organize the second phase of Voa Brasil, in which we will evaluate the possibility of including Pronatec students [Programa Nacional de Acesso ao Ensino Técnico e Emprego]from Prouni [Portal Único de Acesso ao Ensino Superior]and other segments of Brazilian youth,” said Costa Filho.
