  The number of air transportation passengers during the holidays in Brazil has
grown notably since the late nineties. One of the reasons is greater
competition in airfares made possible by economic liberalization. This paper
presents an econometric model of airline pricing aiming at estimating the
impacts of holiday periods on fares, with special emphasis on three-day holiday
events. It makes use of a database with daily collected data from the internet
between 2008 and 2010 for the major Brazilian city, Sao Paulo. The econometric
panel data model employs a two-way error components "within" estimator,
controlling for airline/airport-pair fixed effect along with quotation and
departure months effects. The decomposition of time effects between quotation
and departure month effects is the main methodological contribution of the
paper. Results allow for a comparative analysis of the performance of Sao
Paulo's downtown and international airports - respectively, Congonhas (CGH),
and Guarulhos (GRU) airports. As a result, the price of tickets bought 60 days
in advance for flights with two stops leaving from the downtown airport fell by
most.
