Agricultural aviation grew 3.16% in Brazil, making it 2nd largest fleet in the world

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

The fleet of agricultural aircraft in Brazil increased by 72 aircraft and closed last year with 2,352 units, which represents a growth of 3.16% in 2020 over the previous year, according to a balance sheet released by Sindag (National Union of Agricultural Aviation Companies).

This positive balance confirmed the growth projected by the sector in a survey with suppliers of Brazilian and North American agricultural aircraft. “We only missed two planes in our projection, but we were right to say that the growth would remain above 3%, for the third consecutive year,” stated Sindag President Thiago Magalhães Silva.

The growth, however, was less than that seen in 2019, when it grew by 3.92%, and in 2018 (3.74%). Magalhães explained that the entity foresaw this brake since the dollar's rise and instability as of March 2020 froze some planned aircraft purchases.

“With the pandemic, the dollar went up and uncertainties came. However, in sequence came the rise in commodities and this reflected in the resumption of aircraft purchases. At the beginning of the health crisis, agricultural aviation was considered an essential activity,” the sector representative recalled.

The Sindag president pointed out that 2021 has already started with growth expectations that are only threatened in the event of a fall in the values of commodities (with the dollar still high) or if there was a significant fall in crops – due to climatic factors, for example.

The agricultural aviation division of Embraer announced that it had already sold 37 Ipanema aircraft by the end of April 2021, which represents an increase of 48% in relation to the 25 aircraft sold throughout 2020. The increase follows a trend that has been occurring in the sector in recent years.