One of the world's largest economies. The 'B' in the BRICS power anagram. Host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Showcasing a sustainable economic growth and a burgeoning middle class, Brazil hopes to occupy the centre of the next economic frontier. Consistent with this narrative, civil aviation enjoyed a meaningful growth in the last decade's infrastructure boom. Brazilian airlines, however, remain awfully inefficient and lag behind their competitors in the international market. This article submits that the liberalization of the foreign ownership and control restrictions would operate to the benefit of the air transport industry in Brazil. It suggests a double step approach to achieve liberalization: (i) an amendment to the Brazilian Aeronautic Code for domestic law purposes and (ii) the renegotiation of the existing Air Services Agreements in order to change the designation clauses in certain agreements. To support its contentions, this article offers a review of the relevant literature applied to Brazil and analysis of empirical evidence, including the review of the designation language contained in eighty-eight Air Services Agreements entered into by Brazil and in force as of November 2013, and the corporate structure adopted by the 2010 LATAM merger.
Air and Space Law