Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras has just received its first Embraer 195 jet manufactured by Brazilian company Embraer. Azul (Portuguese for blue), a start-up company from the same entrepreneur who founded JetBlue, David Neeleman, will be the first Brazilian airline to operate the E-Jets.
The contract is for 36 firm orders: 31 Embraer 195s and five Embraer 190s. The deal was announced in March of this year, and also includes options for another 20 aircraft and purchase rights for another 20.
"It is with great pleasure that we make our first delivery to Azul Linhas Aereas," said Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer President and CEO. "I am certain that seeing our Embraer 195 in the colors of Azul is a source of special pride for all of Embraer's employees, as we add our first Brazilian E-Jet operator to the 51 customers we have in 35 countries, on five continents."
Azul begins operations out of Viracopos Airport, in the city of Campinas, in outstate São Paulo, to Porto Alegre and Salvador. The airline company received its Authorization Certificate as an Air Transportation Company (Certificado de Homologação de Empresa de Transporte Aéreo – CHETA) from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil – ANAC) and has already announced the first routes it intends to operate in Brazil.
"Azul is very proud to offer Brazilian passengers the best airplane in the world in its category. And best of all: this exceptional aircraft was designed and built in Brazil and, now, it will be operated by a Brazilian company.
"I know this is the best jet for the domestic market. The Embraer 195 will bring unbeatable safety records to our customers and crew members, besides an exceptional level of comfort," said David Neeleman, Chairman of Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras.
"The Embraer 190 and 195 in our fleet will also operate at extreme savings. And what's more, our E-Jets will be the 'greenest' jets in operation in Brazil, with very low noise and emissions rates. We, at Azul, are all very happy about the delivery of our first Embraer 195. With jets like this one, we will write a new page in the history of Brazilian commercial aviation."
Azul's Embraer 195 is configured in a single class and will accommodate 118 passengers. A state-of-the-art entertainment system, with Live TV and individual screens, will be available and each passenger may select the programming of their choice. With a range of 2,200 nautical miles (4,077 km), the jet will be able to fly nonstop between any two Brazilian capital cities.
The Embraer 195 is the biggest and newest of the four members of Embraer's E-Jets family, and began commercial operation in September 2006. On September 30, 2008, the Embraer 170/190 family of E-Jets had logged 865 firm orders and 813 options, which are significant marks for a commercial aviation program in such a short time.
The family of E-Jets, with nearly 500 units of the aircraft already delivered, has surpassed 2,2 million flight hours and carried over 100 million passengers.
