Brazilian air travel is once again under stress as a new wave of cancellations and delays disrupts key routes across the country. Major carriers including LATAM Brasil, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Azul Brazilian Airlines and their international partners have scrubbed or delayed dozens of flights in recent weeks, with more than 20 cancellations concentrated on high demand corridors linking São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Brasília, Porto Seguro and other hubs. For travelers preparing Carnival getaways or business trips, understanding what is driving the latest disruption and how to protect itineraries has become essential.
What Is Happening Across Brazil’s Major Airports
The current spell of disruption is not a single day event but part of a pattern that has emerged since late December 2025. On December 18, monitoring firm FlightStats recorded 54 departures scrapped between Viracopos in Campinas, São Paulo Guarulhos and Curitiba Afonso Pena over an 18 hour window. Routes to Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro, Florianópolis, Teresina, Santiago and New York were among those affected, hitting both leisure and long haul travelers.
Less than ten days later, on December 27, Brazil’s busiest hub, São Paulo Guarulhos, endured one of its heaviest delay days of the year. More than 150 delays and three cancellations were logged in a single operating day, with LATAM Brasil, GOL, Azul, Delta and American Airlines all impacted. Guarulhos alone counted 78 delays and two cancellations, with knock on effects felt at Rio de Janeiro Galeão, Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery, Recife and Porto Seguro.
The turbulence continued into January 2026. On January 21, Brazilian authorities and airport operators reported 36 cancellations and 152 delays centered on the airports serving São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded. While the specific daily tallies fluctuate, the broader trend is clear. Over the past several weeks more than 20 flights at a time have been regularly removed from schedules or severely delayed across this core domestic and regional network.
For passengers flying through São Paulo Congonhas, Guarulhos, Rio Galeão, Brasília, Curitiba and Porto Seguro, this means a higher than normal risk of missed connections, last minute rebookings and extended waits in crowded terminals. Even travelers whose flights remain on the board can find themselves facing aircraft swaps, gate changes or significant schedule shifts.
The Airlines at the Center of the Disruption
Several major airlines are at the heart of Brazil’s latest travel turmoil. LATAM Brasil, the country’s largest carrier, has shouldered the biggest share of delays on some of the worst days, with around 70 delayed departures recorded at Guarulhos on December 27 alone. As the anchor tenant at Brazil’s primary international gateway, any operational wobble within LATAM reverberates quickly through domestic and long haul networks.
GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, one of the principal operators from São Paulo Congonhas and Rio de Janeiro, has also seen its schedule fray under recent operational pressure. On heavy disruption days, GOL accounted for more than 50 delayed flights, particularly on bread and butter routes linking São Paulo to Rio, Brasília and key leisure markets. Although GOL has not been responsible for the majority of outright cancellations in the latest wave, persistent delays are compounding congestion and making recovery more difficult.
Azul Brazilian Airlines, whose main hub is Viracopos in Campinas, has been especially exposed during cancellation spikes. On December 18, Azul accounted for the largest share of the 54 nationwide cancellations as it trimmed services from Viracopos and Curitiba to destinations including Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro and international points such as New York. Azul’s network is highly banked around its Campinas hub, which means disruption on a few core flights can quickly cascade to regional spokes.
International partners are not immune. On December 27, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were responsible for the day’s three recorded cancellations at Guarulhos, underlining the vulnerability of trans American connections when Brazilian domestic operations become unstable. While the absolute number of cancelled long haul services remains low, the timing is critical. When a single night time departure to North America or Europe is scrubbed, passengers can lose entire travel days or be forced into complicated re routings.
Why Flights Are Being Cancelled and Delayed
The underlying causes of Brazil’s latest air travel disruption are layered. Operationally, airlines are still working through the legacy of weather related delays, crew mispositioning and aircraft availability issues that began piling up ahead of the Christmas 2025 rush. When storms or low visibility slow traffic into São Paulo and Rio, carriers often choose to preemptively cancel selected departures to reset schedules and avoid putting even more aircraft and crews out of position.
Azul’s outsized share of cancellations in mid December, for instance, was closely tied to its dependence on Viracopos as a connecting hub. When inbound flights arrive late due to conditions elsewhere, crews can time out under duty regulations, forcing last minute cancellations out of Campinas and other cities. At the same time, maintenance cycles on heavily utilized aircraft leave little slack in the fleet, especially during peak demand periods like the southern summer and Carnival build up.
On peak delay days at Guarulhos, congestion and air traffic control constraints have also played a role. As multiple airlines crowd departure banks into narrow windows, minor disruptions can mushroom into long queues for takeoff slots and gate space. The fact that more than 150 delays were recorded on December 27, but only three outright cancellations, suggests that airlines were trying to preserve their schedules by holding flights instead of canceling them, a strategy that can keep aircraft moving but often strands passengers in terminals for hours.
Broader structural issues amplify the problem. Brazil’s domestic carriers operate on relatively thin margins and have limited appetite to maintain excess capacity or spare aircraft purely as an operational buffer. After several years of pandemic related losses and restructuring, the industry remains focused on keeping load factors high and aircraft utilization intense. This leaves little room to absorb shocks, whether weather, labor constraints or technical issues, without resorting to cancellations and rolling delays.
Key Routes and Cities Bearing the Brunt
While cancellations and delays have been recorded across Brazil’s vast domestic network, a handful of key corridors have borne the brunt of the latest wave. São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, long the country’s most heavily trafficked air bridge, has experienced repeated disruptions from both Congonhas and Guarulhos to Galeão. These short haul shuttles are central not only for business travelers but also as feeders into longer domestic and international itineraries.
Curitiba has also emerged as a frequent casualty. On December 18, Afonso Pena in Curitiba was one of three airports where FlightStats tracked cancellations clustered through the day, affecting services to and from São Paulo, Rio and Porto Seguro. For travelers in southern Brazil, this has meant unreliable access to connections through São Paulo and disruptions on popular leisure links to the beaches of Bahia.
Brasília, the country’s political capital and a critical connecting hub in its own right, has seen flights to Recife, Rio, São Paulo and other cities affected during the worst days of disruption. When departures from Brasília are delayed or scrubbed, the impact ripples outward to secondary cities that rely on its banks of connections for same day itineraries.
Porto Seguro, one of Brazil’s most sought after beach destinations during the southern summer and Carnival period, features prominently in the list of disrupted routes. Cancellations between Viracopos, São Paulo and Porto Seguro have thrown holiday plans into doubt for travelers seeking seaside escapes in Bahia. Because many leisure travelers book tight hotel and tour packages, even a single cancelled segment can jeopardize an entire trip.
How This Affects Carnival and Summer Travel Plans
The timing of these disruptions could hardly be worse for Brazilian travelers. February is historically one of the busiest months for domestic aviation as millions head to Carnival celebrations and summer holidays along the coast. Azul has already announced plans to add more than 430 extra flights between February 12 and 22, increasing domestic capacity by around 6 percent to cope with Carnival demand. The airline’s build up is concentrated around São Paulo Congonhas, Salvador, Porto Seguro and Ilhéus.
This injection of flights is designed to ease capacity pressure, but it also tightens operational margins. More flights in the schedule mean more aircraft in motion, more crews cycling through duty hours and greater sensitivity to any disruption. If weather, air traffic control constraints or technical issues arise during the Carnival window, the same factors that caused December’s cancellations could re emerge on an even larger scale.
Travelers planning mid February trips should therefore assume that the risk of disruption will remain elevated, particularly on domestic leisure routes linking São Paulo and Brasília to coastal cities like Salvador, Porto Seguro, Recife and Florianópolis. Even with additional flights scheduled, last minute schedule changes remain a real possibility as airlines work to balance demand, aircraft availability and operational reliability.
International passengers transiting Brazil on their way to North America or Europe also need to be vigilant. While most of the recent disruptions have been regional and domestic, the December 27 experience at Guarulhos shows how quickly delays on feeder flights can jeopardize tight connection windows. A missed link onto a once daily long haul service can mean a 24 hour delay in reaching the final destination.
Practical Advice for Travelers Caught in the Turmoil
For passengers flying with LATAM, GOL, Azul or their partner airlines in the coming weeks, preparation and flexibility are key. First, it is essential to monitor flight status closely from 24 hours before departure, using airline apps and airport information boards. Because many cancellations in December and January were decided only hours before scheduled takeoff, real time updates can make the difference between being stranded at the airport and rebooking from home.
Second, travelers with onward connections, especially international ones, should build in extra buffer time where possible. Rather than aiming for the shortest available layover in São Paulo or Rio, a longer connection can provide a safety net if the inbound domestic leg is delayed. This is particularly important when connecting through Guarulhos onto North American or European flights, where daily frequencies may be limited.
Third, consider travel insurance or flexible tickets that allow changes without heavy penalties. Given that Azul, LATAM and GOL have all been forced to reshuffle schedules repeatedly in recent weeks, products that permit fee free rebooking or provide compensation for delays and cancellations can offer financial protection. Passengers should read the fine print carefully to understand what level of disruption qualifies for refunds, vouchers or cash compensation under Brazilian regulations and airline policies.
Finally, travelers should prepare for the possibility of extended time at the airport. Packing essential medications, chargers, snacks and a change of clothing in carry on bags can make long waits more bearable. For those traveling with children or older relatives, having contingency plans for food, seating and entertainment is especially important in crowded terminals where amenities may be stretched.
What This Means for the Future of Air Travel in Brazil
The repeated waves of cancellations and delays experienced since December raise broader questions about resilience in Brazil’s aviation system. As demand continues to recover and grow, especially on domestic leisure routes and key business corridors, airlines are under pressure to operate fuller schedules with leaner reserves of aircraft and crew. While this improves efficiency and profitability in normal conditions, it also increases the risk that relatively minor disruptions will escalate into nationwide operational crises.
Regulators and airport operators are watching closely. Persistent congestion at São Paulo Guarulhos and Rio Galeão highlights the need for continued investment in infrastructure, improved air traffic management and better coordination between airlines and ground services. Measures that smooth traffic peaks, streamline turnarounds and provide more flexible slot usage could all help reduce the likelihood of large scale disruption on heavy travel days.
For airlines, the current turmoil is a reminder that customer confidence is fragile. While passengers have shown a strong willingness to return to the skies, tolerance for repeated schedule chaos is limited. Carriers that can demonstrate robust contingency planning, clear communication and consistent rebooking support will be better positioned to retain loyalty when operations come under strain.
In the short term, Brazilian travelers should brace for a bumpy ride through the heart of the southern summer and Carnival period. With TAM, GOL, Azul and their partners juggling high demand against tight operational constraints, further pockets of disruption are likely. However, by approaching upcoming trips with realistic expectations, flexible plans and a clear understanding of the evolving situation, passengers can still navigate Brazil’s skies with a measure of confidence as the country moves through one of its busiest travel seasons.