Known for everything from beaches and the Amazon rainforest to the Carnival festival season that brings in over 50 million tourists in February and March alone each year, Brazil is by far the most-visited country in South America.
Every year, the country sees tens of millions of tourists from all over the world. It is also a particularly popular travel destination for Americans; according to numbers released by the country’s Ministry of Tourism, over 137,699 American travelers came to Brazil in the first two months of 2026 which makes the U.S. the country’s fourth-largest source of international tourism.
Rio de Janeiro saw a 17% spike in international tourists coming into the city between 2025 and 2026.
GOL Linhas Aéreas to launch only direct summer flight between Rio and JFK
To tap into this travel interest, Brazilian low-cost airline GOL Linhas Aéreas just started running a new route between New York’s JFK and Galeão International Airport (GIG) in Rio de Janeiro.
The route that ran for the first time on July 8 is initially being tested as a seasonal flight that will be retired in October 2026. As both American Airlines and Delta only run direct flights to New York during the winter season, GOL will be the only airline providing a direct link during this time of year.
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Taking approximately 10 hours in each direction, the Rio-New York flight will depart JFK on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and Rio on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays throughout the summer.
Flights in one direction are currently listed starting at $560 USD in one direction on the GOL website. The codeshare partnership with American Airlines also allows U.S.-based travelers to connect from other cities in the U.S. through the same booking as well as collect and spend their loyalty points.
The route was also envisioned to connect travelers from the U.S. to GOL’s wide domestic network of other cities in different parts of the world’s fifth-largest country.
GOL Linhas Aéreas
“Much more than a new destination on our route map”: GOL on New York-Rio route
GOL has been flying to Orlando from Rio since March 2026. The U.S. was a major target market that the carrier wanted to expand into after receiving delivery of five new Airbus A330-900 planes earlier this year. Each has room for 280 passengers of which 20 are lie-flat seats in GOL’s Insignia business class.
The menu served in this fare class has also been designed by Brazilian Michelin-starred chef Felipe Bronze to highlight several of the dishes cooked and eaten throughout the country.
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“This is much more than a new destination on our route map,” GOL CEO Celso Ferrer Gol said in a statement on a new route. “GOL is an invitation for travelers to experience Brazil from the moment they board our aircraft.”
Other cities to which GOL will expand now that it has received the new A330-900 planes, likely several large European capitals such as Paris and London, are expected to also be announced by the airline in the coming weeks.
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