Azul Brazilian Airlines, Brazilโs largest airline by cities served, yesterday (November 16) added a new daily flight from Orlando International to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the first-ever nonstop flight on the route. Belo Horizonte is Azulโs second hub destination, where Orlando travelers will be able to connect to more than 100 destinations. The company also operates daily flights from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Orlando to Sรฃo Paulo. Azul Cargo services are available in all international flights.
The new daily service will depart Orlando (MCO) at 6 pm (1800), arriving in Belo Horizonte at 5:32 am (0532) the following morning. The return flight will depart Belo Horizonte at 10:18 am (1018), arriving at MCO at 4:15 pm (1615).
Copyright Photo: Andy Cripps/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 PR-AIU (msn 494) in the special Azul Viagens livery departs from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Campinas-Viracopos) is adding another route to Orlando. The carrier will launch a new daily route connecting Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) and Orlando starting on December 15.
This is in addition to the Belo Horizonte – Orlando route due to start on November 16.
Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 PR-AIW (msn 462) lands at Campinas-Viracopos (VCP).
United Airlines (Chicago) and Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Azul Brazilian Airlines) (Sao Paulo) today (June 26) announced a new strategic partnership in which United will acquire an approximate 5 percent stake in Azul,ย Brazil’s third-largest airline, paving the way for the carriers to cooperate on a range of customer benefits including codesharing of flights (subject to government approval), expanded connection opportunities on routes between the United States and Brazil, in addition to other points in North and South America, and joint loyalty-program participation.
Through a wholly owned subsidiary, United will invest $100 million for its economic stake in Azul, which includes one seat on Azul’s board of directors.
As a result of the partnership, United and Azul will expand their frequent flyer loyalty agreement.
Copyright Photo Above: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. The announcement ceremony in Sao Paulo today.
United began serving Brazil in 1992, with flights to both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The airline currently operates five daily flights to Brazil from its Chicago (O’Hare), Houston (Bush Intercontinental),ย Newark and Washington (Dulles) hubs.
Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. United Airlines’ Boeing 777-222 ER N229UA (msn 30557) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport.
United Airlines aircraft slide show:ย
Azul aircraft slide show:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi/AirlinersGallery.com. ATR 727-202 PR-AZS (msn 523) arrives at the Viracopos International Airport (Campinas) base serving the Campinas area near Sao Paulo.
David Neeleman, the airline entrepreneur who was involved with running Morris Air (Salt Lake City) with June Morris before he founded NewAir (later JetBlue Airways) (New York) and later Azul Brazilian Airlines (Sao Paulo), has struck out again with a new airline venture. This time he is not creating something new but buying into something old.
Neeleman lead an investment group which has been selected by the state of Portugal to acquire their controlling share in troubled flag carrier TAP Portugal (Lisbon) for โฌ348 million ($391 million), outbidding investor German Efromovich. Besides running Azul, he will now be running trouble-plagued TAP Portugal. His group will control 61 percent of the stock of TAP Portugal. Neeleman’s group will upgrade the carrier with new aircraft (probably new Embraers for the European routes).
TAP Portugal is also likely to receive a new makeover with the new ownership group, possibly with a new blue theme.
Read the full report from Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE
Portugal is the mother country of Brazil. The ties are strong. Both countries speak the same language and the traffic patterns are strong between Brazil and Portugal. The Azul-TAP alliance will now compete against TAM and the LATAM Airlines Group which wants to increase the number of flights between Brazil and Europe. The battle lines are being drawn in Brazil.
For Neeleman, his Brazilian roots are deep. According to Wikipedia,ย Neeleman was born in Sรฃo Paulo, Brazil, but raised in Miami. He lived in Brazil until he was five. He later attended Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and attended the University of Utah for three years before dropping out. He served on a religious mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) in the Northeast Region of Brazil.
After starting JetBlue Airways, CEO David Neeleman on May 10, 2007 was forced out and replaced by David Barger.
Neeleman headed south, back to his original roots. On March 27, 2008 Neeleman officially announced plans to launch a new airline, Azul (Portuguese for “blue”). Azul is now Brazil’s third largest airline and it is expanding internationally.
Also according to Wikipedia,ย Neeleman lives with his family in New Canaan, Connecticut, United States. He is the father of nine children. In 2000, he disclosed to CNBC that he has adult attention-deficit disorder (see the video above).
When Azul expanded to the United States it picked two cities that are big on the JetBlue Airways route map – Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Orlando, Florida. The ties between Azul and Neeleman’s old JetBlue Airways remain strong.
JetBlue has considered larger aircraft and longer-range routes to Latin America in the past. In essence, Azul is now filling this void (at least to Brazil) with its newly-acquired Airbus A330s.
It is very likely that Neeleman has much bigger plans in mind. The synergy between Brazil (and Latin America), North America and Europe are strong. For Neeleman, he now has the European piece in place once he solves the problems plaguing the flag carrier of Portugal. He also has remaining ties to the North American airline he founded – JetBlue Airways. Are the three the future base of a much larger airline alliance?
For JetBlue, their strategy is to make airline friends with any international carrier that has the potential of code sharing at their point of entry into the United States. They have successfully carved out a niche feeding international airlines especially at New York (JFK), Orlando and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood. This strategy has recently put them at odds with the “Big Three” (American, Delta and United) over the on-going Open Skies dispute with the “Gulf Big Three” (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar). Due to their stance, their ties with the Gulf Big Three are likely to expand. Will Qatar Airways leave the oneworld alliance for JetBlue?
There is a lot of potential for a future Azul-TAP Portugal-JetBlue alliance although JetBlue is unlikely to do anything that would upset any relationship it has.
For David Neeleman, this is only the beginning.
Video: GE Capital. David Neeleman on Leadership and Innovation.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras S.A. (Sao Paulo-Viracopos) and Embraer S.A. (Sรฃo Josรฉ dos Campos) have reached a final agreement for 30 firm orders for the E195-E2 jets. The contract, announced as a Letter of Intent (LOI) during the 2014 edition of the Farnborough International Airshow, in July last year, also includes an additional 20 purchase rights for the same model, bringing the total potential order up to 50 E195-E2 jets.
Currently, the Brazilian airline has a total of 82 E-Jets in service and another six E195s on order. It operates the largest fleet of E195s in the world. With this firm order from Azul, the E-Jets E2 backlog reaches 242 firm orders, plus 348 options and purchase rights.
The first delivery of an E-Jets E2 (the E190-E2) is planned for the first semester of 2018. The E195-E2 is scheduled to enter service in 2019 and the E175-E2 in 2020. Embraer’s E-Jets E2s have state-of-the-art Pratt & Whitney PurePowerTM Geared Turbofan high by-pass ratio engines (PW1700G on the E175-E2, PW1900G on the E190-E2 and E195-E2). Combined with new aerodynamically advanced wings, full fly-by-wire flight controls, and improvements to other systems, the E2s will deliver significant reductions in fuel burn, maintenance costs, emissions, and external noise.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Azul Brazilianย Airlines) (Sao Paulo-Campinas) is expanding itsย service between the U.S. and Brazil, with a new route to Beloย Horizonte, the first-ever nonstop flight on the route, starting on November 16, 2015.
Belo Horizonte is Azul’s second hub destination, where Orlandoย travelers will be able to connect to more than 80 Azul flights daily,ย to more than 30 destinations.
Starting November 16 through December 13, the new flight will operateย five days per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays),ย departing Orlando (MCO) at 8:15 pm, arriving in Belo Horizonte at 7:35 amย the next morning. The return flight will operate the same days,ย departing Belo Horizonte at 12:30 pm, arriving at MCO at 5:50 pm. Fromย December 14, the new service will operate daily on the same schedule.
Azul began service from Orlando International Airport in December lastย year with daily nonstop service to Sao Paulo (Campinas), the airline’sย main hub. Between July 1 and August 9, Azul also will add an additionalย three weekly flights for a total of 10 roundtrips per week fromย Orlando. Azul also plans to add three additional weekly roundtrip on aย regular basis between Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to Sao Paulo (Campinas) to itsย daily nonstop service staring on July 1.
Copyright Photo below: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 PR-AIW (msn 462) is pictured at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Campinas), Brazil’s largestย airline by number of cities served, yesterday (December 15) inaugurated daily nonstopย service to and from Orlando, its second international destination. Theย airline’s first arrival landed at Orlando International Airport atย 5:10 pm (1710) and the first outbound flight departed or Sao Paulo (Campinas)ย at 7:45 pm.
From its new $1.5 billion terminal at Sao Paulo-Campinas Internationalย Airport, located 60 minutes from the city, Azul conveniently connectsย to popular destinations including Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte,ย Brasilia, Salvador and Iguacu Falls.
Photos: Orlando International Airport. The inaugural flight was operated with the pictured Airbus A330-243 PR-AIZ (msn 527).
Azulย Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Sao Paulo) operatedย its firstย international flight today (December 2), landing at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywoodย International Airport at 5 am (0500). Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood isย Azul’s first international route. The airline’s inaugural departureย will leave for Sao Paulo (Campinas) at 7 pm (1900) this evening.
According to the airline, “Since its debut six years ago on December 15, 2008, Azul has flown moreย than 100 million customers, changing the face of competition in theย Brazilian domestic aviation market. The airline’s 145-aircraft fleetย currently operates one-third of Brazil’s daily departures with moreย than 850 flights, serving 105 destinations throughout Brazil. From itsย new $1.5 billion terminal at Sao Paulo-Campinas International Airport,ย located 60 minutes from the city, Azul conveniently connects to popularย destinations including Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia,ย Salvador and Iguacu Falls.
Flights will depart Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) at 7 pm (1900), arriving the next dayย at Sao Paulo-Campinas (VCP) at 6:20 am (0620). Returning flights leave VCP atย 11:27 pm (2327, arriving the following day at FLL at 5 am (0500).
In two weeks, on December 15, which is also the airline’s sixthย anniversary, Azul will inaugurate daily service between Orlandoย International and Sao Paulo-Campinas.
In other news, Azul is planning an IPO according to Reuters. Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Rob Finlayson/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 PR-AIZ (msn 527) climbs away fromย Campinas International Airport.
Azul Linhas Aรฉreas Brasileiras (Sao Paulo) will become a new Airbus A320neo operator starting in 2016. The company has issued this statement (translated from Portuguese):
Azul Linhas Aรฉreas Brasileiras will have a new aircraft type to its fleet from 2016: this is the Airbus A320neo. The company intends to use the new aircraft to increase its supply of seats on routes of long distances and high demand of customers. The A320neo will be configured for up to 174 seats and equipped with the new generation of CFM International LEAP-1A engines. The agreement provides for the introduction of 63 aircraft, of which 35 will be acquired by the Blue and the other 28 will be through leasing with AerCap companies (20 units) and GECAS (8 units). All aircraft will be gradually introduced to the company’s fleet between 2016 and 2023.
“The A320neo will be a perfect addition to our fleet of Embraer and ATR jets. We evaluated the Boeing aircraft, which has options in the same category, but we chose the Airbus for comfort and lower operating costs, allowing us to offer even more competitive rates on long-haul routes. The A320neo consume up to 20% less fuel per seat / km over the current model. They will have already established the Azul Area and will be equipped with slimline seats and live TV. In addition, the bathrooms of the new model have been repositioned and give more space to the cabin, “said David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Blue. “The new aircraft will also benefit other Blue’s business units. We may, for example, devote more space to carry loads, or even provide more seats for customers of TudoAzul and Blue Travel, “added Neeleman.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (Campinas-Viracopos) as previously reported, has filed with the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) for its approval for flights to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) and Orlando (MCO). If approved, FLL service will start on December 1 and MCO service on December 15 with its new Airbus A330-200s.
In the meantime, the carrier will start operating the new type on domestic routes from Campinas to Brasilia, Manaus, Recife and Rio de Janeiro (Galeao), also subject to approval by ANAC. The new type will be operated on domestic routes from September 1 through November 30.
Copyright Photo: Azul. Airbus A330-243 PR-AIV (msn 532) is painted in the special Brazilian flag motif and was delivered on August 20, 2014 from AerCap. The wide body airliner has previously been operated by MEA (F-OMEC), Gulf Air (A9C-KI) and Turkish Airlines (TC-JNY).
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