Azul Linhas Aéreas announced that it had reached an agreement with the vast majority of leasing companies for its aircraft fleet. According to the Brazilian carrier, more than 90% of its lease liabilities were renegotiated, with longer payment terms and offering of shares.
The airline is still suffering the effects of the drop in air traffic demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, but has sought to avoid entering into administration, preferring to negotiate directly with its creditors.
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“Lessors represent 80% of our nominal gross debt. Reaching these agreements demonstrates tremendous success in our approach. The leasing community has recognized that supporting Azul is an intelligent, revenuemaximizing business decision, yet we are still honored and grateful for their valuable support,” said Alex Malfitani, CFO of Azul.
Since the end of social restrictions, air travel demand has grown rapidly and Azul has taken advantage of this interest to expand its network of domestic and international flights – recently the company announced a daily flight to Paris.
In addition, new aircraft were added to the fleet, including Embraer E195-E2, Airbus A320neo and A350-900, of which five jets will remain in operation over the coming months.
“No aircraft have left the fleet throughout this negotiation, and in fact our partners have delivered 12 additional new aircraft to us over the past five months. Negotiations continue with lessors and other stakeholders such as OEMs, and we are very optimistic about reaching agreements with all of them,” concluded Malfitani.
