World Cup Brazil 2014

Matches of the World Cup 2014 will be staged in 12 cities dispersed all across the country. Given the long distances between the cities, most of the travelling within Brazil will be made by air.

The Brazilian Government is taking measures to improve Brazilian airports and bring them up to the levels required to attend the expected mass of travellers.

But, even if the Government fullfils the promises about the airports, another point remains: the Brazilian air carriers will have to expand their availability of air routes to provide timely transportation between cities.

According to latest statistics informed (April 2010, source ANAC), there are two companies which dominate the Brazilian domestic air transportation market: TAM (41.75% of market share) and Gol (41.44% of share); the third largest company was Webjet (6.02% market share) and fourth was Azul (5.36%).

Combined, TAM and Gol make a duopoly with more than 83% of market share, and about the same share of available seats. Let’s take a look at the routes operated by the companies.

Below, domestic routes operated by TAM and the companies which have commercial agreements with TAM (click the image to enlarge).

Below, domestic and international routes operated by Gol and Varig (Varig used to be the main Brazilian air carrier, but the company failed a few years ago and was purchased – along with the respective routes – by Gol).

The maps show that there is a big concentration of flights in a few cities, and scarcity in others.

The three main hubs in Brazil are: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. According to the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association,  the route Rio – Sao Paulo is the busiest in Latin America, and Sao Paulo – Brasilia has just become the second one, surpassing the route Mexico City – Monterrey (see report).

Cities such as Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador and Belo Horizonte are considered regional hubs, and are served by a few direct daily flights among them, and coming or going to a national hub. According to the same report mentioned above, Sao Paul0 – Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo – Curitiba are the fourth and fifth busiest air routes in Latin America.

The other host cities (namely Cuiaba, Manaus, Natal and Fortaleza) have just a couple of direct flights to hubs, and barely none flights amongst them.

FIFA and CBF will need to carefully study the logistics of air transportation in 2014 before defining groups, teams and matches of the World Cup.

If, for example, a popular team such as USA or England has a match in Manaus and the following in Cuiaba or Natal, there will certainly be a fight for tickets and a lot of passengers making connections in Brasilia or Recife.

Of course, if Brazilian air carriers increase investments, or the Brazilian Government allows international competition, the situation may change.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 10:29 pm and is filed under business, travel.