On Thursday, Brazil’s Azul announced a new route from São Paulo to New York. Slated to begin in June this year, it will become the airline’s third route to the US. This will raise the carrier’s weekly flights to the US to 30 in total.

Earlier this week, Azul revealed some exciting news for frequent travelers between Brazil and the US east coast. Brazil’s second-largest international airline will be commencing flights between São Paulo and New York on 15 June, just ahead of the peak holiday season.

The airline will operate daily flights from São Paulo’s third airport, Viracopos International, to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Flights will depart from São Paulo Viracopos International at 20:30 local time, arriving in New York at 05:30 local time. On the return leg of the journey, flights will depart New York John F. Kennedy International at 23:30 local time, touching down in São Paulo at 10:30 local time.

What service can passengers expect?

According to the airline itself, the route will be served by the Airbus A330. Azul’s Airbus A330s feature a three-class cabin layout, split into Azul Business, Azul Economy Extra and standard Azul Economy.

Azul operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A330s, which range in age significantly. While this fleet comprises a number of aircraft which have served for many other airlines in the past, it also contains two brand new Airbus A330neos which were delivered just last year.

Azul’s Airbus A330s are fitted with Azul Business class cabins, which offer a pleasant way to spend your time during the eight-hour flight between São Paulo and New York.

While Azul’s business class isn’t the most impressive offering on the market in terms of luxury or service, the carrier prices itself very competitively in order to attract customers. Taking this into account, Azul may well be a very attractive option for New York to São Paulo flights compared to legacy carriers once the route goes live.

The JetBlue connection

Azul’s flights from São Paulo to New York will land at JetBlue’s terminal five at John F. Kennedy International. This terminal was opened for Jet Blue as its main operating base, and there are only a handful of other airlines who have frequent slots to land at the terminal.

As for Azul, it already has a close connection with JetBlue. Both airlines were founded by the same man, David Neeleman, who also founded Canada’s WestJet.

This connection should help Azul secure more customers for its flights between São Paulo and New York, and certainly will have helped during the scheduling process.

Unfortunately for Azul, 2019 was not a great year as far as profits go. The airline posted a net loss of $103 million in the third quarter alone. This poor performance has been largely affected by the broader economic situation in Brazil, as it emerges from recession.

The good news for Azul is that its domestic market continues to rise as a result of Avianca Brasil’s collapse back in June 2019.