Although it is still in the midst of a long and difficult recovery due to the drop in demand for passenger transport, Azul would be planning its future fleet of aircraft as soon as the market resumes its pre-pandemic movement.
This is revealed by the Airbus’ orders and deliveries list update, released earlier this month. It states that Azul Finance, the group’s leasing division, started to have orders for 13 A320neo and five A321neo in August.
These are delivery slots that belonged to the lessor BOC Aviation. The company had 55 A320neo and 22 A321neo pending delivery by July and last month saw those numbers drop to 41 and 17 units.
Since it started operating the A320neo jets in 2016, Azul has considered Airbus aircraft as a turning point in its expansion strategy. Until then, the airline relied on the first generation E190 and E195, which have a higher cost per seat and a more limited passenger capacity.
By introducing the A320neo, Azul was able to expand its offer of seats on routes of greatest demand and feed its hubs throughout Brazil and with significant fuel savings.
At the end of last year, the company received its first A321neo, the largest single-aisle jet it has ever operated. However, the pandemic and the aviation crisis motivated Azul to modify its plans.
According to Airbus, the Brazilian airline currently has 42 A320neo and two A321neo in its fleet, in addition to other units that are finished in Europe waiting for a future delivery.
