LONDON– Brazil’s São Paulo based carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas (“Azul”), has signed a firm order for their A330neo fleet to be complimented with three additional A330-900neo-aircraft. The carrier’s fleet already contains five of the type, making the order rank up their fleet to a total of eight aircraft.
Evolving the fleet
Azul Linhas Aéreas (“Azul”), is no stranger to the Airbus A330neo programme, which was launched in July of 2014, and currently has a fleet of five Airbus A330neo aircraft. However, recent news show the announcement of Azul Linhas Aéreas evolving this fleet, signing a firm order for three additional Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, making the fleet total increase to eight aircraft of the type.
In a statement provided by the Chief Executive Officer of Azul Linhas Aéreas, John Rodgerson, the following was observed: “We are delighted to have secured three more next-gen Airbus widebody aircraft for the upcoming years.”
“This reaffirms our position as the airline with the most modern fleet in the region, with 70 percent of our capacity coming from fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft,”
Airbus statement
Also commenting the order, is Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, Christian Scherer, who remarked: “We applaud Azul’s decision that shows their forward looking strategy and proves the economics and performance of the A330neo are most compelling.”
“The A330neo is the perfect tool to support Azul in expanding its fleet with the right-sized, modern widebody, leveraging the latest technology and efficiency and contributing to reducing CO2,”
The A330neo – simply explained
Much alike its predecessor, the A330ceo (-200/-300-types), the Airbus A330neo is a relatively new member of the leading widebody family that Airbus has, providing lower operating costs than the CEO-version does, as well as it provides a greatly reduced environmental footprint.
Like its predecessor, the A330neo also offers two versions with the A330-800neo and -900neo, where the longer A330-900neo has become the most ordered one.
The A330neo project was first showcased and revealed in 2014, and launched four years later with Portugese flag carrier TAP Air Portugal, which currently operates 19 of the type.
The Airbus A330neo contains a set of new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, along with Airbus’ latest innovations in cabin design and comfort, providing for even more passenger comfort besides the reduced noise generated by the engines.
Azul’s recent fleet modernization
Not too long ago, Azul Linhas Aéreas announced the exit of multiple Embraer E-195 E1 aircraft, to modernize the fleet with the newer generation Embraer E-195 E2, which Azul Linhas Aéreas (AD) already operate ten of.
The exit of the older generation Embraer’s were seen as the key to advance in their Embraer E2-jet deliveries, where there are seven yet to come, data from Planespotters.net shows.
Azul Linhas Aéreas (AD) does also have a fleet of seven A330-200ceo aircraft, with an average age of 20.6 years, according to Planespotters.net. With the ageing fleet of A330 aircraft, the A330neo family does come in as a great replacement. However, Azul (AD) are yet to comment on whether the A330-200 fleet will remain operative, retired or sold off.
Much alike the new state of art the A330neo is, Azul are also scheduled to operate some Airbus A350-900 aircraft to further expand route offerings.
Overall
Azul keeps on impressing with their visions of a young, environmentally friendly and efficient fleet, something this order clearly shows alongside the Embraer E1-series exit from the fleet.
Additional to this is the fact that Azul are greatly expanding their route offerings at a suitable pace, healing after two years of lockdowns and travel restrictions.
With no evident signs of still suffering after the pandemic, the expansions and new orders seem to be carefully decided and thought about by the company themselves.
