Government will work for Gol and Latam to buy Embraer jets, says Lula By Reuters

2024-04-26 22:06:10

By Gabriel Araujo

SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS (Reuters) – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Friday that the government will work for the airlines Gol (BVMF:) and Latam to buy aircraft from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer (BVMF:), as well as competitor Azul (BVMF:) already does.

“We are going to form a very well-balanced partnership so that Embraer can work, so that Azul can work, so that Gol can buy Embraer planes again, so that Latam can buy Embraer planes again, so that the government can go back to buy the planes you need to buy”, said Lula during a visit to the Embraer factory, in São José dos Campos (SP), also highlighting the need to renew the government’s fleet, which, according to him, “is very bad”.

Lula also defended the attempt to offer a greater number of regional flights in Brazil, echoing the words of Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, who stated that the government will act to make regional aviation part of Brazilians’ “daily life”.

Earlier in the event, Azul’s executive president, John Rodgerson, said that the airline will invest 3 billion reais in Embraer aircraft alone in 2024.

Lula also criticized the search for Embraer engineers by competitor Boeing (NYSE:), saying that the government needs to act to protect Brazilian companies from this type of harassment.