Brazilian aviation: airlines face fast moving changes in early 2019

Most Brazilian airlines ended 2018 with an optimistic outlook for 2019 as the country's economic growth is expected to top 2% this year and domestic demand remained stable.

But Avianca Brazil's bankruptcy filing at the end of 2018 casts a degree of uncertainty over the dynamics of the Brazilian market, which posted solid domestic passenger growth for the 11M ending Nov-2019.

Additionally, the outgoing administration of former Brazilian President Michel Temer reportedly issued an order lifting foreign ownership restrictions on the country's airlines, which were capped at 20%.

The effects of those changes remain to be seen; but they coincide with a lot of joint venture activity in Latin America, where Brazil remains a focal point as the region's largest aviation market.