Azul Líneas Aéreas has requested the Brazilian aviation authority to reserve registrations for two Airbus A330-200 aircraft that it will be adding to its fleet in the coming weeks. These aircraft, which the Brazilian company will operate, were formerly owned by Avianca.
The first registration is PR-AIP, associated with the aircraft MSN 1208. This A330-200 previously belonged to the Colombian airline Avianca and is 13 years old. This aircraft has operated for Avianca Brasil under the registration PR-OBS between June 2018 and March 2019.
The second registration, PR-AIQ, is associated with another Airbus A330-200, with MSN 1279. This aircraft is 12 years old, delivered to Avianca in January 2012, and retired from the Colombian airline’s fleet in 2023. These two airframes were the last 330s to leave Avianca’s fleet.
Exit of the A350-900
The A330-200s arrive to replace the Airbus A350-900s, which will be retired in January 2024. Azul’s A350s arrived in Brazil in September and December 2022, but the company decided to deprogram them due to operational costs.
Currently, Azul operates only 2 A350-900XWB from an original order of 5 aircraft. These aircraft were initially transferred to one of the former shareholders of the company, then returned, and their entry into Azul was postponed several times.
Azul’s CFO asserts that the jet will be added to the fleet, which will be standardized around the A330-900neo for long-distance flights: «The idea is to have between 14 and 15 A330 aircraft in the long term,» he said.
