Brazil"™s Congress will finalize as soon as February legislation opening the way for deregulation of flights to and from the United States, Minister of Tourism Marx Beltrao said on Wednesday.
Beltrao said he also expects legislators to approve a plan to allow foreign carriers a bigger chunk of Brazilian airlines. Both measures are part of a government drive to push down fares and boost tourism, which accounts for an estimated 3.7 percent of gross domestic product.
"It"™s already on the agenda as an urgent matter to be voted," Beltrao said in an interview on a visit to New York, referring to the foreign ownership cap issue in particular.
The minister said that the so-called Open Skies treaty with the United States would also be taken up at the beginning of the Brazilian legislative year in February. Beltrao said he did not expect major opposition to the agreement…
