Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras budget airline in Brazil

JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman’s fourth low-lost airline takes off from Brazil.

David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways Corporation, has launched his fourth low-cost airline in Brazil in the face of poor markets for aircraft financing.

The new airline, named Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras SA, started service on December 15, 2008, with three Embraer 195 aircraft and two Embraer 190 aircraft (with 118 and 106 seats, respectively).

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, JetBlue Airways’ Brazilian domestic carrier, started off its service between three cities: Campinas (Viracopos Airport), Salvador de Bahia, and Porto Alegre. Another three aircraft will be added in January 2009 to fly non-stop service from Campinas to both Vitoria (Espirito Santo State) and Curitiba (Parana State) from January 14, 2009, a statement from JetBlue Airways said.

The operations were initially planned to get going in January 2009, but was advanced in order to cash in on the peak holiday season, the statement added.

JetBlue Airways Corporation is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens in the United States. JetBlue Airways’ home airport is John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.

“With a fleet of 78 Embraer jets on order, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras will grow in 2009 to serve 25 cities throughout Brazil with 16 aircraft. The airline will continue to receive an additional jet every month for three years to operate 36 aircraft by the end of 2011,” the company said.

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras has Embraer 190 aircraft and 195 aircraft which are are furnished with ultra-leather seats in a comfortable 2 by 2 seat configuration (no middle seats) with a 31-inch seat pitch. The first five rows of each cabin – called Espaco Azul –offer 34-inch pitch, available for an additional R$30,00 per segment (about US$13).

David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways Corporation, said that he believed Azul would change the way Brazilians fly, bypassing congested hubs and offering point-to-point service with exceptional quality and lower prices.

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras will be the first airline in Latin America to offer Live TV on individual monitors, by the end of 2009. said the JetBue founder. He said that as we was born in Brazil, it was very exciting to be able to start a new airline in the country. Brazil is the second largest economy in the Americas – and the 10th in the world – but only about 5% of Brazilians currently fly given the high cost of domestic travel.

“There is,” Neeleman went on, “tremendous unsatisfied leisure demand for airline seats because fares are too high. As a result, 150 million people travel by long-distance bus. Business travellers suffer circuitous routings and lack of frequency. With only 40% fewer seats per aircraft, we can provide more frequent and direct service in markets that our competition can’t economically serve.”