Brazil’s busiest air corridors are again under pressure as a new wave of cancellations and delays ripples across the country’s major hubs and key international routes. More than 25 flights were cancelled in a single day and well over a hundred delayed, disrupting operations for major carriers including LATAM, Gol, Azul and several international airlines. The fallout has been felt most acutely in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and Campinas, while knock-on effects are complicating journeys to and from international gateways such as Toronto, Montreal and Madrid.

What Happened: A New Spike in Cancellations and Delays

On February 10, 2026, Brazilian airports recorded at least 27 flight cancellations and 176 delays in a matter of hours, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded or facing long waits in terminals. Operational data compiled by industry trackers and reported by travel trade outlets show that disruptions were concentrated on domestic trunk routes, but also affected select regional and international services. The pattern represented a continuation of irregular operations seen earlier in the month, underlining the fragility of airline schedules during the Southern Hemisphere summer peak.

Gol Linhas Aéreas, LATAM Brasil and Azul Brazilian Airlines emerged as the most heavily affected carriers by combined cancellations and delays. Gol alone registered 15 cancellations and more than 100 delays in the February 10 snapshot, while LATAM Brasil logged seven cancellations and over two dozen delayed departures and arrivals. Azul reported fewer outright cancellations, but more than 60 delayed flights, creating bottlenecks for passengers connecting through its key hubs in Campinas and Belo Horizonte.

These disruptions followed an even more severe spell of irregular operations on February 1, when more than 50 cancellations and over 250 delays were recorded across multiple Brazilian airports. In that earlier wave, LATAM, Azul and Gol all reported double-digit cancellations and extensive delays, signaling structural pressure on aircraft utilization, crew availability and ground handling capacity during a period of intense demand.

Airports Under Strain: São Paulo, Rio, Brasília and Beyond

The latest disruptions have been concentrated at Brazil’s primary hubs, particularly São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where any breakdown in punctuality quickly reverberates through the wider network. On February 10, São Paulo–Congonhas Airport, the tightly slot-controlled downtown facility specialized in high-frequency shuttle routes, saw nine cancellations and 66 delays. With a movement schedule already operating near capacity, even modest disruptions cascaded into missed connections and heavily delayed evening waves.

In Rio de Janeiro, both Santos Dumont and Galeão airports were affected. Santos Dumont recorded seven cancellations and 28 delays, affecting primarily shuttle flights to São Paulo and Brasília. Galeão, the city’s main international gateway, registered four cancellations and 30 delays, a concerning development for passengers relying on long-haul departures and inbound connections. Similar operational pressure was visible at Viracopos International in Campinas, Azul’s main hub, which logged five cancellations and 27 delayed flights, and at Brasília’s Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport, with two cancellations and 25 delays.

Earlier in the month, Belo Horizonte’s Confins airport also reported substantial irregular operations, with multiple cancellations and close to 20 delays, further underscoring how disruptions are no longer confined to one or two airports. Instead, they are affecting the core of Brazil’s domestic network, including corridors that funnel traffic onwards to international destinations in North America and Europe.

Impact on Major Airlines: LATAM, Gol, Azul and International Carriers

For travellers, the headline names in this disruption have been LATAM, Gol and Azul, which together dominate Brazil’s domestic market and a significant portion of its regional and international capacity. Operational data from February 1 and February 10 shows these three carriers absorbing the majority of schedule irregularities, with Gol and LATAM shouldering the highest number of combined cancellations and delays and Azul experiencing especially high levels of delayed operations from its Campinas hub.

The wave of disruptions has not been limited to Brazilian brands. Foreign airlines operating into and out of Brazil, including Iberia and low-cost carrier Flybondi, have also reported delayed services in recent days. While these carriers were not among the worst affected in absolute numbers, any delay on a long-haul flight can ripple outward, complicating connections in onward hubs such as Madrid or Buenos Aires and increasing the risk of misaligned crew rotations and aircraft repositioning.

For airlines, the challenge lies in balancing high seasonal demand with operational resilience. Aircraft are being pushed hard across dense domestic and intra-regional networks, leaving little slack when weather, air traffic control restrictions or minor technical issues arise. Brazilian carriers also continue to navigate higher fuel costs and tight crew availability, which can make it more difficult to recover quickly from initial delays and prevent them from spreading across a day’s schedule.

The knock-on effects of Brazilian disruptions are being closely watched on Canada–Brazil routes, which have expanded significantly over the past year. Air Canada operates year-round flights from Toronto and Montreal to São Paulo and launched a seasonal Toronto–Rio de Janeiro service in December 2025, running three times a week until the end of March 2026. These flights serve as important long-haul corridors linking the Canadian market with Brazil’s economic and tourist centers.

Operational data from early February shows that, while some Air Canada flights between Toronto and Brazil have operated on time, others have encountered lengthy delays. One recent Toronto–Rio de Janeiro flight arrived more than three hours behind schedule after departing over four hours late. Even when the cause of delay lies outside Brazil, congestion and scheduling constraints at Rio’s Galeão airport can complicate turnaround times and crew duty windows, making recovery more difficult.

Adding to the complexity is the entry of Air Transat into the Brazil market. In early February 2026, the leisure carrier inaugurated new non-stop services from Toronto and Montreal to Rio de Janeiro, becoming the only airline to link Montreal directly with Rio. The Toronto–Rio route operates twice weekly, while the Montreal–Rio route flies once a week, both with Airbus A330 aircraft. These flights offer new options for Canadian travellers, but they also rely on the same constrained airport infrastructure and airspace in Brazil that has recently seen higher levels of disruption.

For passengers connecting between Canadian long-haul flights and Brazilian domestic services on LATAM, Gol or Azul, the recent irregular operations increase the risk of missed onward connections, particularly when self-booked itineraries involve separate tickets. The combination of tight connecting windows, busy immigration and customs procedures, and airports operating at or near capacity leaves little margin for error.

While Canada–Brazil services have attracted attention, transatlantic and regional routes are also feeling the indirect effects of Brazil’s disrupted operations. Iberia’s flights between Madrid and major Brazilian cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro feed significant connecting traffic for Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Even a modest delay on a Brazil–Madrid leg can lead to missed onward connections in Spain, forcing rebookings and overnight stays.

Similarly, other international carriers that rely on Brazilian feeder traffic, including those from neighboring South American countries, have reported delayed departures and arrivals tied to congestion at Brazilian airports. Low-cost operators such as Flybondi, which connect Brazilian cities to regional hubs, have registered delays when inbound aircraft arrive late or when ground handling resources are stretched thin. In a highly interconnected network, a local problem at Santos Dumont or Congonhas can, within hours, become a scheduling headache for passengers bound for Europe or North America via Madrid, Lisbon, Toronto or Montreal.

For now, there is little evidence of mass cancellations on long-haul Brazil–Europe and Brazil–North America routes directly tied to the recent spikes in domestic disruption. However, the risk profile for connections remains elevated, and airlines are closely managing turnaround times, maintenance checks and crew rotations to avoid further erosion of punctuality on these high-yield routes.

Why This Is Happening: Structural and Seasonal Pressures

Several overlapping factors appear to be driving the latest wave of disruptions. The first is seasonality: February falls squarely within Brazil’s high summer, with strong demand for both leisure and business travel. Aircraft are flying fuller and more frequently, leaving less buffer capacity in case of unexpected technical issues, minor incidents on board, or weather-related delays. When a turnaround takes longer than planned or a flight departs late from a previous city, those minutes accumulate rapidly across the day.

Second, Brazilian aviation continues to operate within infrastructure constraints. Airports like Congonhas and Santos Dumont handle dense shuttle schedules with limited runway capacity and strict noise and slot regulations. At such airports, a ground stoppage, air traffic control restriction, or sudden thunderstorm can quickly trigger a backlog of departures and arrivals. Even at larger facilities like Guarulhos, Galeão and Brasília, gates, stands and ground handling resources can become saturated during peak waves, lengthening boarding times and turnaround processes.

Third, while Brazil’s aviation sector has largely recovered in terms of passenger numbers, the supply of aircraft and crew has not expanded at the same pace. Carriers are still managing aircraft delivery delays, maintenance bottlenecks and market-wide pilot and cabin crew shortages. These structural constraints mean airlines have less redundancy in their fleets and staffing rosters, making it harder to deploy spare aircraft or reserve crew when irregular operations occur. The result is a network that can function smoothly most days but is vulnerable to sharp disruption when multiple issues arise at once.

What Travellers Need to Know Right Now

For anyone scheduled to travel to, from or within Brazil in the coming days and weeks, the key message is to prepare for potential disruption and build extra resilience into your plans. Travellers connecting in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília or Campinas, especially those using a mix of Brazilian and international airlines on separate tickets, should allow generous connection times. Short, under-two-hour transfers in hubs like Guarulhos or Galeão can be risky when domestic flights are experiencing elevated delay rates.

Passengers flying between Canada and Brazil on Air Canada or Air Transat need to pay particular attention to minimum connection times and the rules governing missed flights on separate bookings. A delay on an inbound domestic leg operated by LATAM, Gol or Azul may not automatically protect a separately booked long-haul ticket to Toronto or Montreal, and vice versa. Where possible, booking on a single ticket or within alliance and codeshare partnerships can provide stronger protection and more straightforward rebooking options if things go wrong.

Within Brazil, travellers should expect busy terminals and queues at check-in, security and customer service counters on peak days. Arriving early for flights, monitoring real-time flight status through airline apps and airport displays, and carrying essential items in hand luggage can ease the stress of unexpected delays. When cancellations do occur, rebooking options may be limited on the same day, particularly on heavily trafficked routes such as São Paulo–Rio and São Paulo–Brasília, so flexibility on departure time and, where feasible, airport choice can be an advantage.

Outlook: Will the Disruptions Continue?

Looking ahead, Brazilian aviation is likely to remain under pressure through the remainder of the Southern Hemisphere summer and into the busy Easter travel period. Airlines have few quick fixes at their disposal: expanding fleets and hiring additional crews are long-term processes, and major infrastructure upgrades at congested airports are years in the making. In the short term, carriers can tweak schedules, add buffer time between rotations and adjust frequencies on underperforming routes, but these measures may only partially offset the impact of external shocks such as severe weather or airspace restrictions.

On the Canada–Brazil and Europe–Brazil corridors, both airlines and tourism authorities have strong incentives to maintain stable operations and protect the appeal of these long-haul routes. New services, such as Air Transat’s Toronto and Montreal flights to Rio de Janeiro and Air Canada’s seasonal Toronto–Rio expansion, highlight the growing importance of Brazil in North American and European travel portfolios. Maintaining reliable connectivity between cities like São Paulo, Rio, Toronto, Montreal and Madrid will be critical as carriers compete for high-spend leisure and business travellers.

For now, travellers planning trips involving Brazil should not be deterred, but they should travel with eyes open. Schedule disruptions have become noticeably more frequent in early February 2026, affecting LATAM, Gol, Azul and a range of international airlines. With careful planning, longer connection windows and flexible expectations, it remains possible to navigate this period of turbulence and still make the most of Brazil’s cities, beaches and cultural attractions. The industry will be hoping that, as peak season subsides and incremental operational adjustments take effect, the country’s skies will begin to clear again.