ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL AIRPORTS AS A FACTOR FOR DEVELOPMENT IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The establishment an open market policy in Brazil’s airline sector in the beginning of the 1990s has brought substantial changes to the country’s aviation regulatory framework. One effect of this liberalization has been a substantial decrease in the number of regional airports with regularly scheduled air service. This paper discusses both the internal and external factors that have directly affected the present scenario, based on a review of the literature. We first provide an overview of the evolution of the country’s airport industry and its management concerns, and then analyze the effect of the deregulation process on air travel and the social and economic changes this has brought to smaller cities, especially those in the northern region. The overall effect has been to weaken the country’s potential for national integration and political unity.