• 

  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

The Brazilian carrier Azul is looking to launch 21 new routes to serve the high summer season in Brazil between December 2022 and January 2023 (which is the International Air Transport Association, IATA, winter season). Azul will heavily increase the supply of seats in the northeastern states of the South American country, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte.

21 new routes

To meet the demand of the Southern Hemisphere summer season, Azul has launched its schedule and announced the opening of 21 new routes. Azul will operate seven new routes to the northeastern region alone. These novel services are: Confins-Aracaju, Congonhas-Porto Seguro, Congonhas-Maceió, Goiania-Salvador, Foz do Iguaçu-Salvador, Rio de Janeiro (SDU)-Ilhéus and Montes Claros-Salvador.

Overall, the cities of Campinas, Belo Horizonte, and Recife, the company’s three main hubs, will see the largest number of takeoffs during the high season. Other capital cities, such as Cuiabá, Salvador, Porto Alegre, and Rio de Janeiro, will also see an increase in takeoffs during the period.

Earlier this year, Azul’s management said the plan is to serve 170 cities across Brazil and beyond before the year ends. While speaking last month at a CAPA event in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil, John Rodgerson, Azul’s CEO, said the airline went from servicing 119 cities in 2019 to 154 at the end of 2022’s second quarter.

The south will also benefit

Azul will not only add more routes in the northern regions of Brazil. The airline said that, for those who prefer a milder climate, Azul will also expand the offer of flights to some destinations in the south of Brazil. Overall, there will be 11 new routes in operation. These are: Cuiabá-Florianópolis, Cuiabá-Chapecó, Confins-Navegantes, Florianópolis-Santo Ângelo, Florianópolis-Pelotas, Florianópolis-Passo Fundo, Florianópolis-Santa Maria, Florianópolis-Uruguaiana, Navegantes-Santos Dumont, Navegantes-Chapecó and Porto Alegre-Chapecó.

Vitor Silva, Azul’s Network Planning Manager, said,

“With the addition of these 21 routes in our network, we expanded the offer of seats in the entire country, favoring leisure routes with departures from airports in the South, Southeast, and Midwest regions connecting directly with the North and Northeast. Azul always invests in increasing flights in the high summer season to meet the demand, and this year would be no different. We bet that this network will serve even more customers.”

Foz do Iguaçu, in the extreme west of the state of Paraná, will gain new routes departing from Cuiabá, Confins, and Salvador, in addition to an increase in the offer of seats from Florianópolis, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, and Viracopos, in Campinas.

Increasing connectivity

Overall, the flights of the high summer season network join the capillarity of the Azul airline network with flight options connecting all of Brazil and, therefore, strengthening tourism across Brazil. Around 80% of the routes of Azul are completely uncontested.

John Rodgerson added last month,

“We are seeing record demand in Brazil; inflation is lower than in the United States and European countries. There’s a lot to get excited about. This is where the opportunity is. There’s so much opportunity to grow this market.”

Have you ever traveled onboard an Azul flight? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.