Investing in Brazilian Aviation: Traffic, Airports and a Practical Path for Foreign Capital

Brazil’s aviation market combines recovered passenger demand, a large registered fleet, airport concessions and a maintenance chain that already certifies both national and foreign organisations. For foreign airlines, MRO groups, airport investors, cargo operators, ground handlers and non-resident directors, the opportunity is real, but it is certified. Traffic figures do not replace ANAC authorisation, a Brazilian legal entity for domestic transport, or a company that can sign handling, lease and concession contracts. PCREPS lists Aviation among the sectors it supports and presents itself as a trusted local partner for foreign investors in Brazil. The sector should be read through corporate form, certification and local representation, not through slogans about open skies.

Official traffic data show why the country is back on international aviation maps. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), in the Relatório de Gestão e Atividades 2024, Brazilian air transport moved 118.3 million passengers in 2024, the second-best historical result after 118.6 million in 2019; the registered Brazilian fleet reached 16,372 aircraft; and total cargo and mail reached 1.38 million tonnes. According to the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), in the release Aviação civil registra recordes históricos em 2025, dated 19 January 2026 and based on consolidated ANAC data, 2025 reached a historical record of 129.6 million passengers — 101.2 million domestic and 28.4 million international — with 159.5 million seats offered and load factors of 83.6% domestic and 85.8% international. According to ANAC, in the Relatório de Gestão e Atividades 2025, the fleet reached 16,799 aircraft and total cargo and mail stood at 1.35 million tonnes. The first half of 2026 continued to expand. According to ANAC, in the release Transporte aéreo movimenta 65,2 milhões de passageiros no 1º semestre de 2026, dated 20 July 2026, air transport moved 65.2 million passengers, 5.4% more than in the first half of 2025, including 50.2 million domestic and 15 million international passengers, and 673.6 thousand tonnes of cargo, of which 225.4 thousand were domestic and 448.2 thousand international.

The industrial map is broader than airlines. According to ANAC, on the page Concessões de aeroportos, consulted on 25 September 2026, the federal concession programme began in 2011 and now covers 59 privately operated airports, equivalent, with 2023 data, to about 89% of domestic passengers and 98% of total cargo; those percentages should not be treated as 2025 or 2026 figures. Regional airports remain an additional route. According to MPor and B3, in the release Leilão do AmpliAR garante R$ 731 milhões em investimentos para aeroportos do Nordeste e da Amazônia Legal, dated 27 November 2025, the first round of the AmpliAR Programme awarded 13 airports with R$ 731.6 million of planned investment, including Paulo Afonso at R$ 106.2 million and Jericoacoara at R$ 101.1 million; six terminals in that round received no bids. Maintenance is a separate certified market. According to ANAC, in the 2025 management report, 625 maintenance organisations were certified, 493 national and 132 foreign, with 38 new certifications in 2025. General aviation and air taxi remain active: the same reports recorded 148 active RBAC 135 operators at the end of 2024 and 149 at the end of 2025. Ground handling and other auxiliary services (ESATA) exist as a contractual airport market. According to ANAC, on the ESATA page, those services include cargo agencies, ramp, airport hospitality and related activities; ANAC does not require a specific corporate authorisation to form an ESATA, which does not eliminate airport access, AVSEC, dangerous-goods or customs rules.

Foreign capital can enter, but the legal route depends on the service. Law No. 13,842 of 17 June 2019 amended the Brazilian Aeronautical Code and repealed the former foreign-capital ceiling in Brazilian airlines. According to ANAC, in Relatório de AIR nº 3/2023/GTNO-GNOS/GNOS/SPO, that limitation was extinguished; a Brazilian airline may have fully foreign capital, provided it is a legal entity organised under Brazilian law, with headquarters and administration in the country, and holds the applicable ANAC certification. The Brazilian Aeronautical Code (Law No. 7,565 of 19 December 1986), as amended by Law No. 14,368 of 14 June 2022, opens air services to natural or legal persons, allows international transport by national or foreign companies, and reserves domestic transport to a Brazilian legal entity. A foreign airline that wants to fly internationally to Brazil follows ANAC’s foreign-company process, including a legal representative, Board of Trade filing, foreign AOC and operations specifications, aircraft and insurance data, operational plan, handling and maintenance information, AVSEC and SIROS registration, under ANAC Resolution No. 692 of 21 September 2022 and Ordinance No. 9,715 of 7 November 2022. That international authorisation is not a domestic-traffic licence. Article 205 of the Aeronautical Code dispenses with the prior authorisation of Civil Code article 1,134 only for that specific international-operation purpose. A Brazilian subsidiary, an MRO under RBAC 145, an air-taxi operator under RBAC 135, or a ground handler still needs a Brazilian company or an authorised branch for other corporate acts. Direct investment is reported to the Central Bank through SCE-IED. If non-resident directors remain on a Brazilian corporation, Law No. 14,195 of 26 August 2021, amending article 146, paragraph 2, of the Corporation Law, requires a representative resident in Brazil, with powers for at least three years after the end of the term of office to receive service of process. Rural-land Law No. 5,709 of 7 October 1971 arises only if the project acquires rural property; an airport plot should not be presumed rural, nor should a hangar on rural land be presumed exempt. This content is general and informational; it does not replace legal, aeronautical or tax advice.

That is the practical meaning of local partnership in aviation. A foreign investor does not only need a traffic thesis. It needs a Brazilian company or an authorised branch, a registered office address declared in the articles of incorporation, lawful representation of non-resident investors and directors, capital reported to the Central Bank, and the ANAC file that matches the real activity — airline, MRO, air taxi, cargo or handling. PCREPS offers company formation, legal representation of foreign investors and non-resident directors, administration of subsidiaries and branches, provision of a registered office address, representation in public tenders, DPO services, compliance and integrity support, treasury support, and liquidation and custodial services if a project later has to be wound down. It also connects clients to a network of law firms, accountants, financial advisers and other specialists, which is the usual way to assemble ANAC, airport-concession, tax and labour work without pretending that a single office flies aircraft, runs an airport or certifies maintenance. None of this guarantees slots, certificates, passengers or investment returns. It does reduce the most common source of delay: trying to bid in a concession, lease a hangar or file an AOC before the Brazilian vehicle and the representation of non-resident directors exist.

If you are assessing an airline, MRO, airport, cargo or ground-handling project in Brazil, the next step is diagnostic rather than promotional. Map the service, the ANAC route, the corporate form and the reporting of foreign capital before aircraft, hangars or tenders are committed. To continue that conversation, visit our website: www.pcreps.com.br and book a Discovery Call.