Azul Takes Its 1st Airbus A350
The Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas finally received its first Airbus A350 aircraft on Wednesday. Azul had placed the order for its A350s in 2014 and was supposed to take delivery in 2017, but that didn’t happen. After five years, the airline now has its not-brand new widebody plane. What does it plan to do with it?
Receiving the new aircraft
On Wednesday, Azul took delivery of a 4.9-year-old Airbus A350-900 that was first delivered to Hong Kong Airlines on November 29th, 2017. With a capacity for up to 334 passengers, this jetliner is part of Azul’s fleet modernization plan. It already has Azul’s livery, and it is called “50 também é Azul”, which can be translated to “50 is also Azul (or blue)”.
According to Azul president John Rodgerson, the A350 is part of the company's fleet renewal plan and will replace the Airbus A330Neo aircraft. He commented,
"We are delighted to present this news to our customers, crew, and partners. The Airbus A350 is one of the most modern aircraft in existence, which will bring much more comfort to our customers and more efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, bringing a reduction in the cost per seat when compared to the A330ceo aircraft, which currently fly Azul long-haul flights."
More aircraft coming
When Azul decided to postpone the delivery of the brand-new Airbus A350s, these planes were transferred to Hainan Airlines. The Chinese carrier was, at the time, a shareholder in Azul, but, following the COVID-19 crisis, it pulled out of its investment in Azul. Hainan also took its A350 fleet out of operation. Now some of these planes are finding their way back to Azul.
According to ch-aviation, the Brazilian airline is set to receive one former Hainan A350 and four former Hong Kong Airlines A350s (this carrier is a subsidiary of Hainan). By the year's end, two new generation Airbus A350 aircraft will fly in Azul's network.
Which routes could it operate?
Azul expects to replace the aging Airbus A330-200 fleet with the newer A350s. The Brazilian airline currently has seven A330-200s with an average age of 20.4 years old. It also possesses five A330-900s (only 2.9 years old, younger than the five leased A350s it expects to receive).
By replacing the A330-200s with the A350-900s, Azul will increase its seat capacity by 23% while also benefiting from consumption of about 20% less fuel per seat. Azul’s A330ceo fleet currently flies about 38 commercial services per week, according to data provided by Cirium. These are the routes where we can see the A330-200s nowadays:
- Campinas Viracopos (VCP) - Fort Lauderdale (FLL). Nine flights per week.
- Campinas Viracopos-Lisbon (LIS). Two flights per week.
- Campinas Viracopos-Orlando (MCO). Eight flights per week.
Azul deploys its Airbus A330-900 fleet on these routes as well. In the past, Azul also deployed its A330-200 aircraft on other routes such as Belo Horizonte-Orlando, Recife-Orlando, Viracopos-Oporto, Recife-Fort Lauderdale, and Fortaleza-Viracopos. Maybe the new A350 could help Azul restore the pre-pandemic seat capacity on these services.
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