Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, São Paulo Viracopos) CEO David Neeleman says his airline is studying the A320neo from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and the B737 MAX from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) as possible replacements for 30 Embraer (EMB, São José dos Campos Professor Urbano Ernesto Stumpf) regional jets. Speaking to Bloomberg News, Neeleman said the Embraers are being shifted to other areas of the Brazilian LCC's network.
The carrier is looking to add an additional 50 Brazilian cities to its domestic route network when a proposed government subsidy program aimed at promoting domestic aviation kicks in either later this year or early next year.
As the country's most prolific domestic airline serving 101 destinations, Azul's fleet currently consists of nine ATR42s, fifty ATR72s, twenty-two E190s, and fifty-five E195s. Azul has recently retired its remaining E175s inherited from its merger with TRIP Linhas Aéreas (São Paulo Viracopos). With the arrival of its first widebody A330-200s, the airline intends to operate its first international flights later on in December this year with São Paulo Viracopos to Orlando International and Fort Lauderdale International selected as the first two routes.
Given its rapidly growing international prominence, Neeleman added that Azul has already been approached about joining Star Alliance but did not disclose any further details.
