• Azul Tile
    Azul
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    AD/AZU
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Belo Horizonte International Airport, Sao Paulo Viracopos International Airport, Recife/Guararapes International Airport
    Year Founded:
    2008
    CEO:
    John Rodgerson
    Country:
    Brazil
    Region:
    South America

Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas has activated its second Airbus A350-900, registration PR-AOW. The aircraft is being deployed on the international route between Viracopos International Airport (VCP) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) starting last weekend.

Azul’s newest Airbus A350 goes into action

On Sunday, Azul began employing its second Airbus A350 on commercially scheduled flights. The Brazilian airline employed this aircraft, baptized ‘Onde os Sonhos Voam’ (loosely translated to Where dreams fly), on one of its routes to the United States, alongside its other A350, PR-AOY.

Prior to its commercial launch, Azul had deployed its second A350 on eight round flights between Campinas and Porto Alegre (POA) between January 7 and January 10, according to data by FlightRadar24.com.

Find the latest South American aviation news here.

Azul’s Airbus A350s have the capacity to carry 334 passengers in a two-class configuration. There are 33 seats in business and 301 in economy.

The Brazilian airline received both Airbus A350s in 2022 after a long delay (the first was supposed to arrive in 2017). So far, Azul has only deployed these two widebody jetliners on flights to Orlando, despite having other long-haul destinations such as Fort Lauderdale, Lisbon, and Porto as well. The airline’s first A350 commercial flight was in mid-December, just in time for the company to celebrate its 14th anniversary.

Check out flights from Campinas to Orlando here.

An Azul's Airbus A350-900
Photo: Azul Linhas Aéreas.

Azul’s fleet is not so new

After temporarily halting the delivery of the Airbus A350 fleet to Azul, Airbus sent these planes to Hainan Airlines and its subsidiaries. At the time, Hainan Airlines was an investor in Azul, which changed due to the COVID-19 crisis in the last few years.

That means Azul’s new Airbus A350 fleet is not brand new. Both aircraft, PR-AOY and PR-AOW, are five years old. According to data by ch-aviation, they are both owned by the leasing company AerCap and have an estimated lease contract with Azul until 2029. Both planes previously flew with Hong Kong Airlines between 2017 and 2020 and had registrations B-LGC and B-LGA, respectively.

Azul expects to receive three additional Airbus A350s in the future. One of these planes used to fly for Hong Kong Airlines and currently has a French-based registration, F-WXAM. It is stored at Lourdes/Tarbes Pyrénées Airport (LDE). The other two planes used to fly for Hainan Airlines. One also has a French registration, F-WTAL, and it is also stored at Lourdes. In contrast, the other still has a Chinese registration, B-1069, and it is stored at Beijing Capital Airport (PEK), according to data by ch-aviation. It is estimated these three planes will arrive in Azul in 2023.

An Azul's Airbus A350-900
Photo: Azul Linhas Aéreas

Azul’s fleet in 2023

The Brazilian carrier, which had 24.86 million passengers between January and November 2022, has a fleet of 173 aircraft. Its subsidiary, Azul Conecta, also operates a fleet of over 20 Cessna aircraft and this week received the 3,000th Cessna Caravan ever built.

Azul’s fleet is composed of 46 Airbus A320neo, six A321neos, seven A330-200s, five A330-900s, and two A350-900s. It also operates 39 ATR 72-600s, two Boeing 737-400(F)s, 51 Embraer E190s, and 15 Embraer E2s.

Would you like to fly onboard Azul’s Airbus A350-900 fleet? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Aeroin, FlightRadar24.com, ch-aviation.