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Low-cost airlines Flybondi, Jetsmart set sights on Brazilian market

Lowcost airlines Flybondi and Jetsmart are targeting Brazil as a leading flight location in coming months, aiming to expand paths as the market opens, executives at both firms said.

Is it real that Brazil's missing out on an ultra-low-cost airline? Probably, the chief executive of Chilean carrier Jetsmart, Estuardo Ortiz, told journalists on Thursday.

The company, which presently operates 9 routes in and out of Brazil, sees the country as an instrumental market to its operations, Ortiz stated.

Argentine competitor Flybondi is also weighing route growths to Brazil, CEO Mauricio Sana informed in an interview on Wednesday.

Over the last couple of months, Argentina has actually signed a slew of so-called open-skies agreements with other nations, including Brazil.

The arrangement with Brazil ramps up the variety of allowed flight frequencies in between the nations. With Chile and Uruguay, however, carriers from those countries can operate domestic flights in Argentina and vice versa.

The arrangement signed with Brazil is regarding frequencies ... it still doesn't include domestic flights. But the (Argentine) government wants to enable it, a source at Flybondi said on the condition of anonymity.

A source at Argentina's transport secretariat, likewise on the condition of privacy, verified that it hoped such an contract might be signed.

( Brazil) has Gol and Azul, which aren't affordable airline companies, the Flybondi source said. Rates are incredibly high and it majorly lacks connectivity.

The source added that Flybondi was weighing the possibility of operating domestic flights in Brazil.

Jetsmart, meanwhile, is just focusing on worldwide flights for the moment, Ortiz said.

The executive also said that regulations in Brazil, such as rigorous customer securities and a proposal to instantly include travel luggage in ticket expenses, impacted the viability of running there, in addition to high jet fuel costs.

(source: Reuters)