Azul Brazilian Airlines

Azul Brazilian Airlines
An Airbus A330neo in Beijing
An Azul Airbus A330neo
IATA ICAO Call sign
AD AZU AZUL
Founded5 May 2008; 18 years ago (2008-05-05)
AOC #10,123 – 23 December 2022
Hubs
Focus cities
TudoAzul
SubsidiariesAzul Conecta
Fleet size191
Destinations150
Traded asB3: AZUL4
NYSE: AZUL
HeadquartersBarueri, Brazil
Key people
RevenueIncrease R$9.97 billion (2021)
Operating incomeIncrease R$524.9 million (2021)
Net incomeDecrease R$945.7 million (2021)
Employees12,485
Websitewww.voeazul.com.br

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A (Azul Brazilian Airlines; or simply Azul) is a Brazilian airline headquartered in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable air service to underserved markets throughout Brazil. The company was named Azul ("Blue" in Portuguese) after a naming contest in 2008, where "Samba" was the other popular name. Azul is a publicly traded company on the Brazilian stock exchange, with the ticker AZUL4. It was established on 5 May 2008 by Brazilian-born David Neeleman (founder of American low-cost airline JetBlue), with a fleet of 76 Embraer 195 jets. The airline began service on 15 December 2008.

According to the Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), between January and December 2019, Azul had 23.5% of the domestic and 5.0% of the international market shares in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), making it the third largest domestic and second largest international airline in Brazil.

History

Azul Embraer 190 in Rio de Janeiro
Azul Airbus A330-200 in Fort Lauderdale

Foundation and early years

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A. was the fourth airline launched by David Neeleman, after Morris Air, WestJet and JetBlue. Azul inaugurated services in the Brazilian domestic market on 15 December 2008 between Campinas and 3 cities: Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Porto Alegre. It launched operations with two Embraer 190 and three Embraer 195 aircraft. Another three aircraft were added in January 2009 to introduce nonstop service from Campinas to both Vitória and Curitiba.

On 28 May 2012, Azul announced the acquisition of TRIP Linhas Aéreas, the largest regional carrier in Brazil. Azul and Trip started comprehensive code-sharing operations on 2 December 2012, with all flights carrying only the IATA code of Azul. On 6 March 2013, Brazilian authorities gave the final approval for the merger with a few restrictions related to code-sharing with TAM Airlines and slot use at Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont Airport. On 6 May 2014, the merger was completed with the final approval from Brazilian authorities. That day the brand TRIP ceased to exist and all TRIP assets were transferred to Azul.

While the airline is not currently a full member in an airline alliance, it signed a codeshare agreement with Star Alliance airline United Airlines in January 2014, which made it possible for MileagePlus members to earn points when flying with Azul beginning 1 April 2014.

In December 2014, Azul started its first scheduled international flights, to Fort Lauderdale on 2 December and Orlando on 15 December, both in the United States.

Development since 2015

In early 2015, it was announced that Azul had signed a purchase agreement for 35 Airbus A320neo aircraft. It was also to lease a further 28 of the aircraft type. In mid 2015, Azul finalised a deal for 30 Embraer 195-E2 aircraft, including 20 options, first announced at the 2014 Farnborough International Air Show. The first delivery was scheduled for 2020.

On 24 November 2015, it was announced that the Chinese HNA Group, owner of Hainan Airlines, would invest US$450 million in Azul, becoming its largest single shareholder. This follows the US$100 million investment of United Airlines closed in June 2015.

Azul signed a nonbinding deal to buy Avianca Brasil's assets on 11 March 2019, calling for the rehiring of all Avianca Brazil's staff and the merger between the two carriers, with Azul as the surviving brand.

On 14 January 2020, Azul Brazilian Airlines signed an agreement to purchase TwoFlex. On 27 March 2020, the Brazilian regulatory bodies approved the purchase and sale of flights started on 14 April 2020. TwoFlex operates as a feeder airline to Azul.

On May 28, 2025, Azul Brazilian Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being affected with higher expenses within the last year. The company has plans to shed up to $2 billion in debt, receive $1.6 billion in financing throughout the procedure, and an additional $950 million in financing upon exiting bankruptcy, with bondholders and strategic partners such as American Airlines and United Airlines supporting the restructuring. Azul stated that they plan to exit bankruptcy in the beginning of 2026.

Corporate affairs

The key trends for Azul are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):

Total
revenue
(R$ b)		 Net profit
(R$ b)		 Number of
employees
(FTE)		 Number of
passengers
(m)		 Passenger
load factor
(%)		 Cities
served		 Total
aircraft
 References
2010 0.87 −0.09 2,940 28 27
2011 1.7 −0.10 4,329 43 49
2012 2.7 −0.17 8,914 100 124
2013 5.2 0.02 9,848 19.8 79.1 103 137
2014 5.8 −0.06 10,501 20.4 79.4 106 153
2015 6.2 −1.0 10,533 21.7 79.6 102 152
2016 6.6 −0.12 10,311 20.6 79.7 102 139
2017 7.7 0.42 10,878 22.0 82.1 104 147
2018 9.0 −0.63 11,807 23.1 82.3 110 143
2019 11.4 −2.4 13,189 27.6 83.5 116 166
2020 5.7 −10.8 12,004 14.7 80.0 112 192
2021 9.9 −4.2 13,163 23.3 79.2 147 192
2022 15.9 −0.72 14,247 27.4 79.7 158 212
2023 18.5 −2.3 16,017 29.2 80.4 162 209
2024 19.5 −9.1 16,173 30.8 81.6 152 220

Destinations

In November 2025, Azul and Azul Conecta served 150 destinations in Brazil, Argentina, Curaçao (Netherlands), Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, the United States, and Uruguay plus some other additional locations by means of dedicated executive bus services to the nearest airports.

Codeshare agreements

Azul has interline agreements and codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Interline agreements

Fleet

Azul ATR 72-600
Azul Airbus A320 in Porto Alegre
Azul Airbus A350

As of August 2025, Azul Brazilian Airlines operates the following aircraft:

Azul Brazilian Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
B E+ E Total
Airbus A320neo 51 — — 30 144 174
Airbus A321neo 6 — — 42 172 214
Airbus A330-200 5 — 20 100 151 271
35 48 155 238
Airbus A330-900 7 5 34 96 168 298
ATR 72-600 40 3 — — 70 70
Embraer 195 45 — — 18 100 118
Embraer 195-E2 35 38 — 20 116 136
Azul Logística fleet
Airbus A321-200P2F 2 — Cargo
Total 191 46

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Passenger flight segments"
  2. ↑ Includes aircraft held under finance and operating leases

References

  1. ↑ "Empresas Aéreas - Consulta". ANAC (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Visão Geral". Azul Brazilian Airlines (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "Mapa de rotas". Azul magazine (in Portuguese). Diretoria de Marketing, Comunicação e Marca. December 2018. p. 159. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "TudoAzul e Itaucard lançam Primeira Compra que dá descontos de até 10% em passagens aéreas". TURISMO SA (in Brazilian Portuguese). 15 October 2020. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Azul Brazilian Airlines website". Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Management". Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 "2021 Financial Results". Azul IR. 24 February 2021. p. 14. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "CONTRATO DE TRANSPORTE AÉREO DE PASSAGEIROS Archived 13 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine." Azul Brazilian Airlines. Retrieved on 20 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Jessie Scanlon (6 May 2008). "Braving Brazil's 'Airline Graveyard'". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  10. ↑ "AZUL4 - AÇÕES AZUL: cotação e indicadores". Análise de Ações (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Azul itching to launch low cost services in Brazil". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  12. ↑ Matos, Marcela; Silvana Pereira (5 November 2008). "Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras recebe o CHETA e já pode pleitear as rotas que pretende operar". Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 7 January 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 "A história da Azul" (in Portuguese). Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  14. ↑ "Relatório demanda e oferta do transporte aéreo". Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  15. 1 2 Under Blue Brazilian Skyes Airliner World August 2018 pages 88-96
  16. ↑ "Acordo de codeshare entre Azul e Trip leva cliente a 100 destinos" (in Portuguese). Brasilturis. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  17. ↑ Teixeira Alves, Danilo (6 March 2013). "Cade aprova fus da Azul e Trip com condições" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Ata da reunião realizada em 6 de maio de 2014" (PDF) (in Portuguese). ANAC. 6 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Azul Earning Miles". United Airlines. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "United Airlines & Azul Frequent Flier Partnership (Earn & Redeem Miles On Azul)". John Ollila, LoyaltyLobby. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Azul confirma voos para Fort Lauderdale e Orlando" (in Portuguese). Panrotas. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "Azul Orders A320neos". Airliner World: 12. February 2015.
  23. ↑ "Azul Signs for E-Jets". Airliner World: 12. July 2015.
  24. ↑ "HNA Group and Azul Brazilian Airlines Forge Longterm Strategic Partnership". HNA. 24 November 2015. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  25. ↑ "United Airlines to pay $100 million for Azul stake, for foothold in Brazil". Reuters. 26 June 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  26. ↑ "Azul buys Avianca". 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  27. ↑ "Brazil's Azul hopes to take over Avianca Brasil's planes at lower lease rates". Reuters. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2020 – via www.reuters.com.
  28. ↑ Ghim-Lay Yeo. "ANALYSIS: Azul expects to close Avianca Brazil deal quickly". Flight Global.
  29. ↑ Ghim-Lay Yeo. "Azul signs nonbinding deal to buy Avianca Brazil assets". Flight Global. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  30. ↑ "Azul faz acordo para compra da Two Flex por R$ 123 milhões". Panrotas (in Portuguese). 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  31. ↑ "CADE aprova a compra da ultra-regional TwoFlex pela Azul". Aeroflap (in Portuguese). 27 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  32. ↑ "Azul inicia venda de voos operados pela TwoFlex". Panrotas (in Portuguese). 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  33. ↑ Bellotti Azevedo, Giovanna; Gamarski, Rachel. "Brazilian Airline Azul Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in US". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 19 November 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  34. ↑ "Brazilian airline Azul aims to exit Chapter 11 in early 2026". Reuters. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  35. ↑ "SEC filings". Azul RI. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  36. 1 2 "Azul SA (AZUL) Income Statement & Earnings - Moomoo". www.moomoo.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  37. 1 2 "Form 20-F - 2022". Azul. p. 105. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Form 20-F - 2017" (PDF). Azul. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  39. 1 2 "Form 20-F - 2018" (PDF). Azul. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  40. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2019" (PDF). Azul. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  41. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2020". Azul. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  42. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2021". Azul. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  43. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2022". Azul. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  44. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2023". Azul. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  45. ↑ "Form 20-F - 2024". Archived from the original on 13 December 2025. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  46. ↑ "Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  47. ↑ "Ônibus grátis" (in Portuguese). Azul Brazilian Airlines. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  48. ↑ "Profile on Azul". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  49. ↑ "Azul Begins Air Canada Codeshare Service From early-August 2023". AeroRoutes. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  50. ↑ "Air Europa / Azul Begins Codeshare Partnership From mid-August 2025". AeroRoutes. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
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  57. 1 2 3 "Azul assina acordo de interline com Aerolíneas Argentinas". Melhores Destinos. 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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  59. ↑ "Azul assina acordo de interline com panamenha Copa Airlines | EXAME.com - Negócios, economia, tecnologia e carreira". exame.abril.com.br. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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  62. ↑ flightradar24.com
  63. ↑ "Brazil's Azul adds first A321neo". ch-aviation. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  64. ↑ "Azul Linhas Aéreas adds three additional A330neo to fleet | Airbus". www.airbus.com. 15 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  65. ↑ "Azul Linhas Aéreas discloses incremental order for four A330neos | Airbus". www.airbus.com. 15 December 2023. Archived from the original on 4 April 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  66. ↑ "Brazil's Azul orders three ATR72-600s". ch-aviation.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  67. ↑ "Embraer Order Book" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  68. ↑ "Embraer E-Jets Orders and Deliveries" (PDF). Azul. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  69. ↑ "Brazil's Azul receives first A321 freighter". ch-aviation.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.

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