On June 16 2016 the Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) issued a regulation modifying and rendering invalid previous dispositions, particularly Dispositions 73/97 and 1/01, which had been issued by the previous undersecretary of aero-commercial transportation.

Resolution 445/06 states that non-compliance with ANAC-approved schedules for scheduled carriers will be subject to fines under the legal framework of Decree 326/82 only if the carrier delays a flight without providing the required ancillary services to passengers under Resolution 1532/98 (issued by the previous Ministry of Economy, Works and Public Services, modified by Resolution 203/13).

According to Article 12 of Resolution 1532/98, a flight delay caused by a scheduled carrier may be due to:

  • operational, technical, weather or business conditions;
  • carrier cancellations causing delays of more than four hours;
  • baggage delivery delays of more than four hours;
  • denial of passenger boarding because the carrier cannot provide a previously confirmed seat;
  • failure to stop at the passenger's stopover or destination; and
  • other reasons causing the passenger to miss a connecting flight for which he or she held a confirmed reservation.

For a flight delay for any of the abovementioned reasons, the passenger is entitled to:

  • a place on the next available flight of the same carrier to the passenger's destination;
  • an endorsement of the passenger's contract of carriage, including any connections for which a confirmed seat is held, when this is acceptable to the passenger (subject to availability of space); or
  • being rerouted onto another route to the destination specified in the contract on the carrier's services, on another carrier's services or by another means of transport (subject to availability of space).

Further, the carrier must provide the passenger the following incidental services with no extra cost:

  • telephone or cable communication to the destination, including local communications;
  • snacks and beverages consistent with the waiting period for boarding another flight; and
  • ground transportation to and from the airport.

The carrier or its authorised agents must display these regulations to passengers at ticket offices, reservation offices and airports.

Resolution 445 instructs ANAC´s National Direction of Air Transport to establish a ranking that will allow passengers, agencies, the Ministry of Tourism and members of the facilitation committee to access information, including this ranking, online.

The new regulation contributes to improved handling of the events that produce airport delays, allowing information about airline services to reach passengers and reducing fines if carriers provide the incidental services indicated by Resolution 1532/98.

If the carrier has no other option than to delay a flight, no fines will be imposed so long as the carrier complies with its obligations to its passengers.

For further information on this topic please contact Elizabeth Mireya Freidenberg at Freidenberg Freidenberg & Lifsic by telephone (+54 11 4311 4991) or email ([email protected]).

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