A potential new route? Who would fly Dublin to São Paulo?

According to a DAA press release, the DAA is determined to add a flight between Dublin Airport (DUB) and São Paulo (GRU) after an online poll revealed huge demand for a direct flight between Ireland and Brazil. Almost 60,000 voters opted for São Paulo as the destination that they would most like to see directly connected to Dublin airport. The poll was to identify the places that passengers most wanted to see connected to Dublin via a direct flight. A shortlist of the three most popular options were put to a public vote which reportedly attracted almost 90,000 votes. More than a third of voters (71%) voted for São Paulo which was followed by the Indian capital, Delhi (23%) and Cape Town, South Africa (6%).

Dublin Airport

The press release stated that DAA, the operator of Dublin Airport is very keen to lift the 32 million passenger cap that is currently in place. The passenger cap limits potential new routes and the DAA is using the results of this poll to push for the lifting of the passenger cap, arguing that because of the cap on passenger numbers, potential new routes will be lost to Ireland and go to cities overseas, taking jobs and economic growth with them.

Last year, 140,000 passengers travelled between Dublin and São Paulo using multiple connecting flight. This passenger number was 20% higher than 2019.

There is a strong Brazilian community in Ireland with an estimated 40,000 Brazilians in Ireland meaning there would be strong demand for this flight as people visit friends and family and explore new countries.

Raising the passenger cap could also be key to the airport setting up new direct routes to other destinations such as Delhi (there are over 56,000 people from India living in Ireland) as well as other locations such as Cape Town, Singapore and more.

Now that we have established why a route could be established and the demand for such a route, it naturally raises the question of who would fly between Dublin and São Paulo? There are currently no direct flights between Ireland and anywhere in Brazil or even to South America. In this blog post I will look at some potential airlines that could fly this route. This is just a thought exercise and contains my own views. Share who you think would fly the route, or even if the route will come about by leaving a comment below.

São Paulo

First, I will examine what I believe are some of the most obvious choices. I believe the most obvious choices are airlines that are based in either Brazil or Ireland. They would be Aer Lingus, LATAM or Azul.

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland and has A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft that would be able to fly the route. Aer Lingus does not currently operate to South America and the airline may not want to expand to South America as its focus is on being a hub for traffic between North America and Europe. Alternatively, the airline may want to expand its route network to South America, especially if demand is there.

LATAM is a South American airline that has the 777 in its fleet. The airline would be capable of flying this route as it has long range aircraft. LATAM does also fly to London Heathrow from São Paulo so they would be able to fly to Dublin. However, LATAM may not want to fly to Dublin as well as London as it is possible that many of those passengers going to London end up going to Dublin. The airline may not have enough demand to fill a separate widebody aircraft to Dublin as well as the flight to London. However, one option for LATAM is to operate a fifth freedom flight and stop in Dublin on its way to and from London Heathrow. This stop would allow passengers to get off in Dublin while traveling from São Paulo to London and allow passengers to get on while travelling from London to São Paulo.

This fifth freedom flight would therefore be:

São Paulo -> Dublin -> London Heathrow

London Heathrow -> Dublin -> São Paulo

Azul is another South American airline that has both the A330 and 777 aircraft in its fleet. These aircraft would have the range to fly to Dublin. Azul currently operates to both Lisbon and Madrid, but not from São Paulo. Additionally, the airline does not serve either Ireland, or the United Kingdom and the airline may not currently be looking to expand its long-haul services. However, I do believe that Azul could operate a flight between Dublin and São Paulo or any other Brazilian destination.

All of these airlines could operate flights between Dublin and São Paulo either direct flights or as a fifth freedom flight in the case of LATAM with a stop in Dublin.

Next, I will examine other airlines that are not based in Brazil or Ireland that could possibly operate either direct flights as a fifth freedom flight or on behalf of the three airlines listed above.

TAP Air Portugal operates to São Paulo from both Lisbon and Porto using the A330-900 aircraft. The airline has a large presence in South America and has 12 destinations in Brazil including routes between Brazilian cities. It could operate between Dublin and São Paulo due to its extensive Brazilian destinations and long-range aircraft in its fleet.

British Airways operates to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It also operates a flight between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The airline uses A350-1000 and 787-8 aircraft. The airlines long range aircraft could enable it to operate between Dublin and São Paulo. British Airways is a member of IAG, as is Aer Lingus so the airline could operate on behalf of Aer Lingus as a fellow IAG airline.

Virgin Atlantic is another airline to consider. The airline has the A330-300, A330-900, A350-1000 and 787-9 in its fleet. However, the airline does not operate to Brazil, or even to South America and I feel that it would be very unlikely for Virgin Atlantic to operate between Dublin and São Paulo.

Another airline to consider is Lufthansa or a member of the Lufthansa Group. Lufthansa does operate to South America, but I feel that Lufthansa operating this route is quite unlikely as their focus will be on the Lufthansa Group and its existing routes. Additionally, Aer Lingus is a member of IAG so Lufthansa would not operate on behalf of Aer Lingus. However, the airline could operate as a competitor to IAG. Additionally, there is no large Lufthansa Group or Star Alliance presence at Dublin Airport.

Another airline group to consider is Air France – KLM. These airlines do operate to South America and to São Paulo, but I feel that either of these airlines operating between Dublin and São Paulo is unlikely as they will want to focus on their own routes and the group’s possible acquisition of TAP which would expand their South American destinations.

Finally, I will examine other airlines not based in Ireland or Brazil but that do operate to São Paulo that could stop in Dublin on their way to or from São Paulo.

As mentioned above, LATAM could make a stop in Dublin on its flights between São Paulo and London Heathrow. However, at the time of writing, LATAM only has one daily flight between São Paulo and London Heathrow and passengers are more likely to choose a direct, non-stop flight over a flight that stops along the way.

British Airways also flies between London Heathrow and São Paulo but similar to the idea with LATAM, it could make a stop in Dublin. On some days, British Airways operates two flights between London and São Paulo and even one of those flights could stop in Dublin. Due to the proximity of Dublin and London, it would not cause too much disruption to the flights. However, most planes on this route fly southwest from London towards São Paulo and do not go west to fly over Dublin.

Air France and KLM do fly to São Paulo. KLM flies from Amsterdam and flights to São Paulo sometimes fly across the south of England and it could be possible that the plane would fly that bit further to Dublin to pick up passengers and refuel. However, this routing would likely depend on the most fuel-efficient routing due to weather so planes may not always fly over the south of England. Air France flies from Paris and flights to São Paulo do not fly over the UK or Ireland so it would not make sense for Air France to go to Dublin first which is the opposite direction to São Paulo. It would make more sense for KLM to stop in Dublin and not Air France if this airline group was to stop in Dublin.

I have summarized how likely I think that each airline we have discussed operating between DUB and GRU is, either as a direct flight or stopping on the way to its final destination. See the table below for the likelihood ranking

Airline	Direct DUB - GRU or stop along the way?	Likelihood
Aer Lingus	Direct DUB-GRU	Quite Likely
LATAM	Direct DUB-GRU	Likely
LATAM	Stop in DUB to/from London	Unlikely
Azul	Direct DUB-GRU	Likely
TAP	Stop in DUB to/from Portugal	Very Unlikely
British Airways	Direct DUB-GRU	Unlikely
British Airways	Stop in DUB to/from London	Quite Unlikely
Virgin Atlantic	Stop in DUB to/from London	Very Unlikely
Lufthansa	Stop in DUB to/from Germany	Quite Unlikely
Air France	Stop in DUB to/from Paris	Very Unlikely
KLM	Stop in DUB to/from Amsterdam	Quite Unlikely

Liklihood ranking (Most likely to happen - least likely to happen)

Quite Likely

Likely

Unlikely

Quite Unlikely

Very Unlikely

While there are many airlines that would be capable of flying between Dublin and São Paulo it is unlikely that many of these airlines would go out of their way to stop in Dublin on the way to their final destination. I do believe that the most likely airlines would be Aer Lingus, LATAM or Azul as a direct flight between Dublin and São Paulo.

These are just my own views by what do you think? What airline is most likely to operate between Dublin and São Paulo? Do you think this route will ever get off the ground (literally)? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below or on our X or Instagram.

Thank you for reading.

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First Published: 11 August 2025