Azul plans to double in size in 2010 with the arrival of aircraft

 * Translated and republished without express written consent by Veja or the National Football League

Original article in Portuguese from Veja.com --

Pedro Janot, president of Azul Airlines (founded by David Neeleman, formerly of Jet Blue), said on Wednesday that the airline plans to double in size in 2010 with the arrival of seven Embraer aircraft. According to Janot, the first of seven ordered planes arrived in March and is already in operation, bringing to 15 the number of company aircraft in activity.

The company expects to receive another six planes by the end of the year.

"The market is heating up; it grew 48% in February and 33% in January. We grew very quickly and we expect to double in size this year with the arrival of the aircraft," said Janot to journalists, after participating in a Manufacturing Federation of Rio (Firjan) event. "The company is already in the black, making a profit", he added.

Janot estimates that the Brazilian aviation market will grow this year between 17% and 20%, but said prices shouldn't go down because the companies are making up for margins lost during the global crisis. Last year, the market grew 17%, but first semester growth was basically stagnant.

Azul's occupancy rate in March, according to Janot, was 86% and the objective is to maintain this average until the end of the year. In January, the occupancy rate was 90% and in February, 87%.

The executive mentioned that the two new slots at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo will be inaugurated in May with flights directed towards weekend tourism.

"We are planning to do tourism packages and not the filé mignon, which is the executive market. We will have connections between Porto Seguro (Bahia) and Sao Paulo," he said.