Ministry of Ports and Airports and BNDES release R$4 billion from Fnac for airlines
The Ministry of Ports and Airports and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) signed yesterday, the 29th, the contract to release R$4 billion from the National Civil Aviation Fund (Fnac) for financing airlines. The expectation is that the first loan requests will occur in the first quarter of 2026, around a year and a half after Congress approved the use of the fund for this purpose.
In total, there are six lines of financing that range from the purchase of national aircraft to the acquisition of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced in the country. The interest rate on the loan will vary from 6.5% to 7.5% per year, depending on the line of credit.
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According to the rules approved by Congress, Fnac resources will be transferred to BNDES gradually from the moment the financing is approved by the fund’s Management Committee. The annual value of resources for the coming years will also be proposed by the committee.
Among the mandatory counterparts that were suggested by the responsible group is the commitment to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that allows an additional reduction in CO2 emissions in relation to the target set by law, which is one percentage point per year until reaching 10%. Airlines will also be required to increase the annual proportion of flights in the Legal Amazon and the Northeast, in relation to the numbers recorded in 2024.
Companies that take out loans with Fnac resources will not be able to increase the payment of profits to shareholders during the grace period.
Delays
Expanding access to credit is a historic demand for the Brazilian airline sector. The agenda gained strength especially after the pandemic, when companies did not have financial support from the government, unlike what happened in other countries.
Discussions about the use of Fnac have been going on since last year. The authorization to use the fund as a guarantor of financing for airlines was approved in August 2024, with an initial forecast that the resources would be available at the beginning of 2025. At the time, a potential of up to R$5 billion annually was estimated.
In the meantime, executives from Azul and Gol cited the delay in releasing the amounts as one of the factors that led the companies to resort to Chapter 11. After the company exited the judicial recovery process, Gol’s CEO, Celso Ferrer, stated that the airline is pursuing some type of financing with more competitive costs, if possible in reais. “We want the fund to be distributed evenly among companies and serve to solve structural problems,” he stated.
The CEO of Latam Brasil, Jerome Cadier, said, also in an interview with Broadcast, that the fund “is a relevant lever for the sector, but the timing is not ideal”. The executive considers it important that Fnac reflects the differences in risk between companies, as the market tends to price. “Companies with better health pay lower interest rates; those with greater risk, higher interest rates. This is justice”, he added.
