Azul expands its Recife hub with new domestic and international destinations

SAO PAULO, Oct. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Azul S.A. today announced plans to expand Recife, its Northeast hub. Starting in 2018, Recife will be connected to two new international destinations and two new domestic destinations. Rosario and Cordoba in Argentina will be served once a week with Airbus A320neo aircraft, with capacity for up to 174 passengers. In addition, Fort Lauderdale in the U.S., which already receives daily Azul flights from Campinas, will also receive flights from Recife twice a week, with Airbus A330 aircraft that seat up to 271 passengers. Domestic destinations include Serra Talhada and Caruaru, two cities in the interior of the state of Pernambuco.

John Rodgerson, Azul's CEO, highlighted the company's growth in Recife, which already offers half of the departing flights and more than 40% of the seats available from Pernambuco's main airport. "Our service from Recife continues to grow, allowing us to offer fast and convenient connections to various destinations in Brazil and throughout the world. With the expansion of our Northeast hub we will increase the number of people traveling between Brazil, Argentina and the US, encouraging business and tourism," Rodgerson said. "The government of the state of Pernambuco is a great partner to Azul, and has worked to create conditions that allow us to continue to invest in the expansion of our operations in the state. With Azul, Recife is now the fifth most-connected city in Brazil in terms of number of destinations, following only Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia," he concluded.

In addition to increasing international traffic from business passengers, tourists and freight, Azul also seeks to increase the hub's regional scope as it prepares to launch flights to Caruaru and Serra Talhada, in the interior of Pernambuco, in addition to Mossoro, in Rio Grande do Norte. Service should begin after the airports are certified to receive the company's ATR 72 turboprops with capacity for 70 passengers. The state governments are investing in the airports so that infrastructure will be suitable.

Azul in Recife 

Azul operates nearly 50 daily flights from Recife to 23 domestic and international destinations, as well as hundreds of international destinations through its partners. In the high season of summer 2017-2018, the company will reach the milestone of 25 destinations and 57 daily flights.

Domestic destinations currently served by Azul in Recife: Aracaju, Belem, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Fernando de Noronha, Fortaleza, Sao Paulo (Guarulhos), Goiania, Juazeiro do Norte, Joao Pessoa, Maceio, Natal, Petrolina, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Luis, Salvador, Teresina, Uberlandia, Campinas, Campina Grande, Parnaiba and Juazeiro do Norte. During the high season, Cuiaba and Paulo Afonso will also be served.

International destinations currently served by Azul in Recife: Orlando, USA. 

About Azul
Azul (B3: AZUL4, NYSE: AZUL), the largest airline in Brazil by number of cities served, offers 739 daily flights to 102 destinations. With a fleet of 123 aircraft and more than 10,000 crewmembers, the company has a network of 202 non-stop routes as of June 30, 2017. Among other awards, Azul was named third best airline in the world by TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice in 2017, best low cost carrier in South America for the seventh consecutive time by Skytrax in 2017, and the world's most on-time low-cost airline in 2015 by the Official Airline Guide (OAG). For more information visit www.voeazul.com.br/ir.  

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SOURCE Azul S.A.