Brazil’s GOL resumes US flights in mid-2Q22

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, Sao Paulo Congonhas) is to resume flights to the United States in May 2022.

Departing from Brasilia, 4x weekly flights to Orlando Int’l, Florida will restart on May 13, with 4x weekly services to Miami Int’l resuming on May 17, 2022, the airline announced in a statement.

The Brazilian budget carrier said it added both destinations to its international network in 2018, but flights were shelved in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Both cities are popular tourism destinations for Brazilians and provide onward connections on its codeshare partner American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth).

GOL said it was also planning to return to Florida from Manaus and Fortaleza, but dates were not yet announced.

Randall Saenz Aguero, Director of Alliances, International and Distribution at GOL, said the carrier’s international route network in November 2021 had started recovering from the effects of COVID-linked travel restrictions. The first routes to show improvements this month were Montevideo (Uruguay), Cancún (Mexico), and Punta Cana (Dominican Republic). Recovery was linked to progress in vaccination campaigns in the countries, the re-opening of borders, the removal of quarantine requirements, and the safe return of tourism.

GOL’s US routes will be operated with its B737-8 configured for 176 passengers. An all-Boeing operator, the airline has sixteen of the type in the fleet, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module. It also operates ninety B737-800s, twenty-two B737-700s. It also has nine B737 MAX and twenty-five B737-10s on order.