Varig Brazilian Airlines has decided to discontinue flights between Narita airport and Rio de Janeiro, routed via Los Angeles, on Jan. 14 as passengers have declined sharply due to tougher U.S. visa requirements, informed sources said Wednesday.
Low-fare Varig flights to Japan, inaugurated in 1968, had been popular among Japanese Brazilians working in Japan.
However, since the United States in 2003 started requiring Brazilians on flights via Los Angeles to obtain visas, Brazilians have shied away from the flights because of the time-consuming, costly procedures to get a visa.
Varig discontinued flights between Brazil and Nagoya last year.
Hit by the decline in the number of passengers and rising jet fuel costs, Varig applied for rehabilitation procedures in June and has been eliminating unprofitable flights.