Azul Linhas Aéreas will place one of its seven Airbus A330-900s in its fleet on domestic routes in Brazil from August 1st, according to Routes Online.
The reason is unusual as it was a response to the bitter reaction of passengers who flew on two second-hand A330neos recently received by the airline and which are being used on routes to Florida.
The two aircraft flew for low cost Air Asia, in Thailand, and were configured with a cabin with 377 seats in two classes, economy and premium economy, with just 12 seats.
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As it needed to replace two A350-900s that stopped flying at the beginning of the year, Azul put the A330neos into service on routes to the United States with the same interior as Air Asia and without receiving livery from the carrier.
Rows with nine seats and seats without screens
According to the Melhores Destinos outlet, there were complaints from passengers outraged at having been surprised with narrower seats (16.5 compared to 18 inches on other Azul A330neo) and without entertainment system screens.
In fact, the A330-900 that came from Air Asia has a 3+3+3 row configuration while aircraft of the same type from Azul have 2+4+2 in economy, in addition to offering business class – there are 298 seats, 264 of them in the economy.
The alternative planned by the airline’s management was to remove the engines from one of the two A330neo and place them in another jet of the type, the PR-ANZ, which has been grounded since May due to a lack of parts.
The remaining A330neo will continue to fly to Florida until the end of July, but with center row seats blocked in order to offer a little more comfort.
Retrofit
According to Azul, the two A330neo, which are leased for 10 years, will undergo a retrofit in the coming months and should be ready by mid-2025.
In the second half of the year, the Brazilian airline is expected to receive two more A330-200s that flew with Condor and whose internal configuration will also be different, however, with an entertainment system.
Azul also has firm orders for new A330-900s with Airbus, but deliveries are only expected to take place in the longer term.
