The Collegiate Directorate of Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) has approved the institutionalisation of the Aircraft Shared Ownership Programme in Brazil. The new service modality, formalised by the inclusion of the rules in Subpart K of the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulation (RBAC) No. 91, allows shareholders to share the use of aircraft through a contract, which must have a minimum duration of one year.

The initiative is in line with the Voo Simples programme, launched in October 2020 with the aim of simplifying and reducing bureaucracy in general aviation activity and creating the right conditions for greater competitiveness in the airline sector.

Interested air operators or those who already operate aircraft on a shared basis will start operating under the 91K rules from August 2022 or before that if the company's Administrative Specifications (EA) are issued. Operation under Subpart K rules will be mandatory when the sharing programme has two or more aircraft, with a maximum of 16 quota holders per fixed wing aircraft and 32 per helicopter.

The Brazilian aircraft sharing programme follows rules similar to those adopted by the FAA, but with adaptations to Brazil's unique conditions. The operational safety rules are similar to the operations under RBAC No. 135, which regulates air taxi, with the appropriate adaptations for the aircraft sharing business model.

The operational control of the aircraft that operate under a sharing regime will be the responsibility of the programme administrator, as registered in the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry (RAB). The contractual relationship between operator and shareholders, although it must be reported to ANAC, will be reserved and will be the responsibility of the programme administrator.

Before approval, the aircraft sharing programme went through a long discussion with stakeholders, being the subject of two public hearings: the first, in 2015, during the approval process of RBAC No. 91, and the second, in 2019, held exclusively to discuss Subpart K. The final proposal brought simplifications related to the operations manual, the factoring of the landing strip and the adequacy of training and exams.

The process of authorisation of operations in sharing programmes will follow a similar procedure to that of certificates issued by ANAC, which go through phases of document analysis, demonstration and inspection and final authorisation. Until August 2021, ANAC will issue supplementary instructions detailing the requirements of Subpart K of RBAC No. 91. Operators who already operate with sharing must present the required documentation by February 2022.