Hundreds of travelers were left stranded across Brazil on January 20, 2026, as a fresh wave of disruptions hit the country’s busiest air hubs.

Airports serving São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the key international gateway of São Paulo Guarulhos registered dozens of cancellations and well over a hundred delays, with LATAM Brasil, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes and several international carriers scrambling to manage an increasingly chaotic travel day.

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New Day, Same Chaos Across Brazil’s Busiest Hubs

Data compiled on Tuesday showed at least 36 flight cancellations and 152 delays affecting services in and out of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, including Guarulhos, Congonhas and Galeão. While numbers fluctuated through the day as operations recovered or further deteriorated, the pattern was clear: domestic and regional connections bore the brunt, and hundreds of passengers were forced into long queues, missed connections and unplanned overnight stays.

The latest disruption comes on top of a series of recent operational shocks that have plagued Brazil’s aviation network over the Southern Hemisphere summer. In the weeks leading up to January 20, Guarulhos alone has repeatedly seen days with over 150 delayed flights and multiple cancellations, while combined figures for São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have run into the hundreds of irregular operations on several occasions in December and early January.

For many travelers, the cumulative effect has been one of mounting uncertainty. Some passengers already rebooked from earlier disruptions found themselves facing fresh delays and cancellations, as airlines attempted to reposition aircraft and crews around weather, air traffic control constraints and peak-season demand.

LATAM Brasil and GOL Again Among Worst Hit Carriers

As with previous incidents this season, LATAM Brasil and GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes were again listed among the most heavily impacted airlines on January 20. The two carriers, which together carry a dominant share of domestic traffic between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, registered a significant portion of the 36 cancellations and over 150 delays across Brazil’s main urban corridor.

Recent operational snapshots underline how exposed these airlines are to disruption on core shuttle routes. Flight records for services such as LATAM’s São Paulo Guarulhos to Rio de Janeiro Galeão runs and GOL’s São Paulo to Rio shuttle show frequent scheduling pressure, with some recent flights arriving close to an hour late and delay averages on key routes well above one hour. On a day already strained by congestion and knock-on delays, these margins quickly evaporate, leaving little room to absorb further shocks.

Other carriers were not immune. Azul Brazilian Airlines, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Avianca, TAP Air Portugal and Emirates all reported delayed operations into or out of Rio and São Paulo on Tuesday, although without the same concentration of outright cancellations seen at LATAM and GOL. International passengers on long haul services into Guarulhos and Galeão in some cases missed onward connections, feeding additional rebooking demand into an already overloaded system.

Congonhas, Guarulhos and Galeão Under Intense Pressure

The disruptions were most acutely felt at São Paulo Congonhas and Rio de Janeiro Galeão, with Guarulhos again operating under strain. Congonhas, the key in-city airport that handles a dense schedule of high-frequency domestic flights, saw its departure boards swing heavily toward late departures, while a fresh tranche of cancellations eliminated entire rotations and cut connectivity to secondary cities.

At Rio Galeão, delays rippled across both domestic shuttles and international links. The airport, which has seen a growing mix of regional and long haul carriers rebuild their operations over the past two years, struggled to maintain punctuality as late-arriving aircraft compressed turnaround windows. Even a single delayed inbound flight from São Paulo could cascade into late evening departures to destinations as far afield as Europe or North America.

Guarulhos, Brazil’s largest hub and the main international gateway for São Paulo, felt the impact in a more complex way. While the tally of Tuesday’s cancellations and delays was spread across multiple terminals, Guarulhos remains exceptionally vulnerable because of its role as a connection point. Travelers bound for domestic cities such as Goiânia, Recife or Porto Alegre, as well as international destinations like Miami, Lisbon and Madrid, were caught up in missed connections when shuttle flights from Rio or feeder services from regional airports failed to operate on time.

Travelers Stranded, Rebooked and Forced to Improvise

Across terminals, the human impact of the disruptions was plain to see. Families on vacation, business travelers and international tourists all reported long lines at airline service counters as they sought rebooking options, meal vouchers and hotel accommodation. With many Brazilian carriers operating near full capacity during the January holiday period, same day alternatives were frequently limited or unavailable.

Passengers reported being told to return the following day or to accept circuitous routings via Brasília, Belo Horizonte or Fortaleza when direct seats were no longer available. Travelers with tight schedules, including cruise departures from Santos and business meetings in São Paulo’s financial district, found themselves frantically rearranging ground transport and hotel plans to salvage their itineraries.

In some cases, stranded passengers chose to abandon air travel altogether on the congested São Paulo Rio shuttle and opt for intercity buses, rental cars or ride share options, especially for the roughly 430 kilometer overland stretch between Brazil’s two largest cities. However, for those with international connections or domestic flights to more distant destinations such as the Northeast, there was little choice but to endure the queues and wait for fresh flight options to open up.

Weather, Air Traffic and Structural Strain Behind the Numbers

While no single dramatic storm event was reported on January 20 to rival the severe weather that hit São Paulo in December, industry data and recent case studies point to a combination of factors driving the current wave of irregular operations. The Southeastern region remains in the heart of the wet season, with recurring thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds that regularly force spacing restrictions, runway inspections and temporary suspensions of takeoffs and landings.

In late December, for example, Guarulhos logged around 90 delayed departures and 11 cancellations during a single morning window after intense downpours flooded remote stands and a shortage of night shift air traffic controllers led to flow control measures. Those same structural vulnerabilities remain in place as January traffic volumes climb, meaning even moderate weather instability can quickly trigger outsized operational consequences.

On top of this, Brazil’s domestic network is operating near peak seasonal demand, with airlines having optimized schedules to carry high loads on core city pairs such as São Paulo Rio, São Paulo Brasília and São Paulo Salvador. In such an environment, a single canceled rotation can strand an aircraft and crew far from where they are needed later in the day. Recovery becomes a complex logistical puzzle, particularly for airlines like LATAM Brasil and GOL that must balance domestic shuttle obligations with regional and long haul commitments.

Pattern of Repeated Disruption Raises Systemic Questions

The January 20 disruption is not an isolated event. In recent weeks, multiple monitoring snapshots have captured days when combined cancellations and delays across Guarulhos, Congonhas and the two main Rio airports have run into the hundreds. Brazil saw days last month with more than 360 total flight disruptions nationwide, heavily concentrated on routes linked to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

This emerging pattern has begun to raise questions among industry observers and traveler advocates about the resilience of Brazil’s aviation infrastructure and airline scheduling strategies. While weather and air traffic constraints are hard to control, critics argue that carriers may be running systems too lean in peak periods, leaving little slack capacity to absorb shocks and sparking repeated rounds of cascading disruption.

Some point to earlier decisions to trim certain regional routes, consolidate frequencies and adjust staffing plans as evidence that airlines are prioritizing efficiency over operational robustness. Others note that congestion at key hubs, particularly during early morning and evening peaks, has become increasingly chronic, with minor irregularities now more readily snowballing into major network disruptions.

Airlines Pledge Support, But Passenger Frustration Grows

In public statements and social media updates, airlines affected by Tuesday’s disruption emphasized that they were working to rebook affected passengers at the earliest opportunity, offering standard compensation and assistance in line with Brazilian aviation regulations. Carriers reminded travelers to check flight status before heading to the airport and encouraged the use of mobile apps and digital channels for rebooking where possible, in order to ease congestion at airport counters.

Despite these efforts, many passengers expressed frustration at what they perceive as a lack of transparency and timely communication. Reports from terminals in both São Paulo and Rio highlighted instances in which estimated departure times were repeatedly pushed back in small increments, keeping passengers at the gate for hours before flights were ultimately canceled or reassigned to the following day.

Travelers also voiced concerns about limited availability of meal vouchers, long waits to secure hotel rooms and confusion over whether responsibility lay with airlines, airport authorities or third party ground handlers. For international visitors unfamiliar with Brazilian consumer regulations, the process of asserting their rights in the aftermath of a cancellation remained an additional source of stress.

What This Means for Upcoming Travel in Brazil

With the Southern Hemisphere summer still in full swing and demand forecasts robust through February, Tuesday’s events are likely to serve as a warning for anyone planning to fly in or through Brazil’s main hubs in the coming weeks. Industry analysts suggest that while airlines will work to smooth their operations after this latest incident, the underlying risks from seasonal weather, dense scheduling and infrastructure bottlenecks will remain elevated.

For travelers, this translates into a heightened need for contingency planning. Those connecting through São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro may wish to build in longer layovers, avoid the tightest possible connections and keep essential items in carry on bags in case checked luggage is delayed on misaligned flights. Flexible hotel and ground transport bookings can also provide a buffer if sudden cancellations or multi hour delays disrupt carefully laid plans.

At a policy level, the accumulation of travel chaos across Brazil’s aviation system over the past two months is likely to intensify calls for investment in airport infrastructure, air traffic management capacity and more robust contingency planning by airlines. For now, however, the immediate reality for hundreds of stranded travelers in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Guarulhos on January 20 remains stark: another day at the airport, another round of queues, and yet more uncertainty about when, and how, they will reach their final destinations.