VZCZCXRO8697
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #0139/01 0231133
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231133Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4245
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 6151
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4200
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 1368
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3721
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 5988
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5160
RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE - NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR CVIS CMGT BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: U.S. CARRIERS EXPLORE NEW ENTRY POINTS DESPITE 
FREQUENCY LIMITATIONS 
 
¶1. (U) This cable contains business-proprietary information.  It has 
been coordinated with AmConsulate General Sao Paulo. 
 
¶2. (SBU-NOFORN) Summary.  During a recent trip to Sao Paulo, Charge 
met with local United and American Airlines representatives to gauge 
their interest in offering air connections to the U.S. to the 
currently neglected North and Northeast regions of Brazil.  (At 
present, the vast majority of flights to/from the U.S. 
originate/terminate in either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, with only 
the Brazilian carrier TAM providing once-weekly service between the 
Northeastern city of Recife and the U.S.)  Officials from both 
United and American told us that they were considering adding 
flights to serve underrepresented cities such as Salvador, 
Fortaleza, Recife and Brasilia, but a key factor in their decision 
making would be the ability of the USG to provide non-immigrant visa 
services in the North and Northeast, thereby expanding the pool of 
potential travelers.  With respect to the Brazilian government's 
visa policy, our American Airlines (AA) contact stated that both the 
Minister of Tourism and tourism officials were pushing a bill in the 
Brazilian Congress which would lift visa requirements on U.S. 
citizens visiting Brazil.  Meanwhile, it appears that the Brazilian 
government has quietly ceased photographing/fingerprinting Americans 
arriving via air in Brazil.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU-NO FORN) In a January 17 conversation with Charge, Sao Paulo 
CG, FCS Chief and EconCouns, AA Brazil Director Erli Rodrigues told 
us that his airline was currently debating whether to initiate 
regularly scheduled service from Salvador, Recife and/or Fortaleza 
to the U.S.  The two principal factors critical to the decision 
were: 1) the availability of the appropriate 757 aircraft, and 2) 
the ability of the USG to provide additional non-immigrant visa 
services in the Northeast (thereby expanding the potential pool of 
travelers).  Currently, Brazilian visa seekers from the North and 
Northeast must travel a considerable distance and incur substantial 
expense to appear for the requisite interview.  Rodrigues stated 
that even though U.S. carriers had exhausted all their frequencies 
under the Brazil-U.S. civair bilateral, he felt confident that given 
its desire to promote the development of the North and Northeast, 
the GOB would approve a waiver to allow these flights.  Such a 
precedent already exists, he observed, as civair authorities had 
approved a similar waiver to permit TAP to fly from Northeast Brazil 
to Portugal.  In view of the poor financial health at Varig and the 
resultant market uncertainties for Brazilian carriers, Rodrigues was 
not sanguine about the prospect of the GOB seeking to liberalize the 
current bilateral anytime soon. 
 
¶3. (SBU-NOFORN) The next day, Charge, accompanied by the same roster 
of Embassy/Consulate officials, met with United Airlines Brazil 
Chief Josue Meza and his Sao Paulo sales chief Luiz Henrique 
Camillo.  The United pair noted that their airline was looking at 
initiating a daily Rio-Brasilia-Washington flight.  The key question 
to be resolved, Meza said was whether there will be sufficient 
Brasilia traffic to sustain the route.  United could consider as 
well adding a Sao Paulo - Manaus - Miami flight, but whether this 
would be profitable would depend upon the availability of adequate 
NIV services in the Northeast, the degree to which the route would 
attract business travelers, and the willingness of the GOB to 
facilitate visas to Amcits traveling to Brazil.  Meza noted that it 
would be helpful if the GOB were to expand its visa processing 
capacity, lower its visa fees or do away with the visa requirement 
altogether. (AA's Rodrigues made a similar investigation). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Charge pointed out that there was currently a bill 
circulating in the Brazilian Congress which, if passed, would 
eliminate visa requirements for Americans.  It would be helpful, he 
continued, if concerned tourist industry officials could work with 
the bill's legislative sponsor, the Minister of Tourism, and the 
Embassy to push this measure forward.  The Brazilian Foreign 
Ministry, everyone felt, might be the bill's most forceful opponent, 
given its traditional insistence on strict reciprocity.  Meanwhile, 
our interlocutors told us it appears that three months ago the GOB 
quietly dropped its requirement that American visitors arriving in 
Sao Paulo be fingerprinted and photographed.  This requirement had 
already been lifted in Rio, at the behest of the tourist industry. 
Consul General noted that the USG was doing its part to facilitate 
two-way travel as waiting times for visa interviews in Sao Paulo had 
dropped under 50 days, with the Consular Section interviewing 1000 
people a day. 
 
¶5. (SBU-NOFORN)  Finally, our United contacts stated that should its 
Brazilian codeshare partner Varig go bust, the Minister of Tourism 
had already stated that U.S. airlines will be temporarily allowed to 
increase their frequencies to fill the void created by the demise of 
Brazil's principal international carrier.  (Whether United would 
 
BRASILIA 00000139  002 OF 002 
 
 
have sufficient aircraft available to take advantage of this 
opportunity was another story, Meza admitted, noting that the 
company's current focus was its highly profitable Pacific routes.) 
Once TAM was ready to assume Varig's transcontinental routes and 
Gol, Varig's South American routes, then frequency numbers would 
revert to normal (except for any approved exceptions).  However, 
Meza stated that his gut feeling was that Varig would eventually 
survive, though perhaps owned or managed by TAP as that seemed to be 
the GOB's preferred solution.  Comment. With the recent sale of 
Varig's cargo and logistical arms to outside investors and the 
payment of leasing company creditors with the proceeds from these 
transactions, Varig has gained at least a few more months of life. 
End Comment. 
 
CHICOLA