Despite strong historic and cultural ties, air service between much of Western Europe and South America remains spotty at best, with only 18 city pairs having more than 7 weekly flights. Seventeen more city pairs have a daily flight, and beyond that the seats and frequencies diminish — 24 out of the 69 nonstop links (35%) operate less than five times weekly.

At both ends of the routes, service originates or terminates at just a handful of airports, with Madrid overwhelmingly the European anchor. In South America, Brazil dominates, especially Sao Paulo. Of the 28 frequencies included in our parameters, 11 - roughly 40% - begin or end in Brazil.