What’s happening at Congonhas

Congonhas Airport in São Paulo has seen repeated flight delays and cancellations this month, with disruptions hitting key domestic routes to Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte. The most severe outage came on April 9, when a technical failure in the air traffic control network briefly halted operations at Congonhas, Guarulhos and Viracopos.

That 36-minute stoppage triggered at least 86 delays and 42 cancellations across LATAM, Gol and Azul, according to officials. Later interruptions on April 15 and 16 added more delays and another round of problems on April 27 affected Congonhas and Santos Dumont.

Who feels the impact

The disruptions matter most for travelers moving through Brazil’s busiest business corridors. That includes expats, digital nomads and business travelers with tight schedules, along with passengers making connections through São Paulo.

Routes between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are among the hardest hit, along with flights to Brasília, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte. The airport operator and airlines have also pointed to low clouds and aircraft-rotation issues as factors in some of the recent delays.

What travelers can do now

Passengers facing cancellations or long delays can now use Anac Passageiro, Brazil’s official complaints platform, after first trying to resolve the issue with the airline. The portal opened on April 14 and requires a gov.br login.

The system covers 17 complaint types, including delay, baggage damage, denied boarding and refund disputes. Airlines have 10 calendar days to respond and complaints rated below 3 out of 5 stars are sent to ANAC for review. Read our full Brazil guide for the complete picture and check visa updates for more nomad news.