Entity demands Anac intervention and requests the support of the Brazilian Embassy in Uruguay

The Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies (ABAV of Brazil) on Monday (23) sent a formal request to the Brazilian Embassy in Uruguay and to the Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) asking for their intervention in the case of airline Pluna. When the airline suddenly interrupted its operations, ABAV contacted the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and requested the exclusion of the bills from the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) and of the debts referring to the sales of Pluna’s tickets.

“Unfortunately, IATA is only concerned about the airlines’ interests, and little defends the interests of the society and of the other links that make up the travel business chain,” said Antonio Azevedo, CEO, ABAV of Brazil. He also said action on the part of the Embassy and ANAC will be necessary, because hundreds of Brazilian travel agencies may be harmed by a situation caused by an airline that had no financial guarantees to cover its operations in Brazil.

The ABAV requested that the ANAC, among other actions, introduces a compulsory Guarantee Fund or an Airlines Surety Bond to avoid losses like in this case and other cases that have occurred in Brazil and overseas. “Travel agencies will not be able to refund customers because they do not have that money, they are just the middleman that issues tickets for the airlines; the airlines receive the payments from customers and transport them,” Azevedo said.

ABAV also highlights a few items in Law 11,182/2005 in its formal request, as follows:

Art. 8. It shall be incumbent upon the ANAC to take the necessary action to serve the public interest and develop and promote the country’s civil aviation sector, and aeronautical and airport infrastructure, acting in an independent, legal, impersonal, and public manner, and to:

...VII - regulate and supervise the operation of airline services provided in Brazil by foreign companies, observing the international agreements, treaties, and conventions signed by the Federative Republic of Brazil;

...XXXV - repress infringements to the law, including with regards to user rights, and apply sanctions as appropriate.