Test-flying the Cheapest Brazilian Airline: Azul

By Tom K Friday May 22, 2009

Azul Linhas Aéreas is a new domestic airline connecting Brazil’s major cities: Sao Paulo, Rio, Curitiba, Salvador and about 20 more. It’s headed by David Neeleman, Founder and ex-CEO of JetBlue, and the similarities go beyond the fact Azul means “Blue” in Portuguese.

Strong, pervasive branding, modern operations & innovative perks certainly give it a kind of JetBlue feel, so we decided to test-ride it on a location scouting trip to Brazil last month.

Note: We’re not affiliated with Azul in any way. We’ll concentrate on providing the cheapest hotels, not earning commissions from flights or packages. This is an independent review.

Price & Class

Azul is the cheapest airline in Brazil (currently), and although it only offers Economy class, it doesn’t suffer some of the obvious cutbacks that other budget airlines do:

Legroom is excellent: Azul claim the biggest seat space (”pitch”) in their domestic market (31″/70cm). The Embraer 190/195 leather seats in Economy definitely feel roomier.
Need more legroom? For BRL$30 you can buy an extra 3″/7cm of legroom - sort of a “premium economy” offering.
On average, flights were around 40% cheaper than Gol or TAM, the other domestic carriers who control a huge majority of the market.

Booking

Online booking is only available if you have a Brazilian credit card. The website is decent enough for picking flight times and prices, but gringos need to buy tickets in person at the local airport or travel agency.
Additionaly, Azul charge an extra 10% at the airport ticket desk, so factor this in as your “gringo tax”.

Check-in

Web check-in is available, but not if you have luggage to check in, which most non-business travellers do.

Food

Snacks and soft-drinks are provided. Hell, they come around twice. This beats budget and even OneWorld airlines like AA who now only provide paid food.
Hot meals: We only caught 3 flights - the longest hop was 2 hours - and we weren’t served one, even during lunch. So if you hunger for something more substantial than chips, crackers, biscuits and decent sandwiches, then BYO.
No bulky food/bev carts! Your ankles, and your bladder, are safe, because your food/drink order is delivered on a tray, leaving the single aisel free for short-distant dashes

Perks & Assorted Notes

Satellite LiveTV feeds to personal in-flight TVs

azul-in-flight-tvs

Shuttle Bus with Wi-Fi: If you’re flying out of Sao Paulo, you’ll actually leave from Campinhas Airport, about 1hr to the North-West of the city. From Sao Paulo, just catch one of the few big, blue Azul-branded coaches complete with Air-Con, Wi-Fi, refreshments and satelliteTV/video screens.
Pervasive branding through genuine design. Everything from the chip packets, water bottles seems high quality. not just a logo tacked onto the cheapest supplier goods, but like Azul have given some thought to the design of their sundry products and the effect on customer experience.

Overall, after 3 flights, we’ll fly Azul again (probably exclusively) when we’re in Brazil.

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