American businessman David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airlines, launched his brand new Brazilian 
airline yesterday, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras SA. The airline began flights from Salvador, Bahia; Campinas, São Paulo; and Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Next month, two more cities will be added: Vitória, in Espirito Santo, and Curitiba, in Paraná. In 2009, twenty more cities will be added.
The airline bears resemblances to US-based company JetBlue. Azul will offer live TV on individual monitors on each seat, the first airline in Latin America to do so. Like JetBlue, the idea of the airline is to avoid the country’s busiest airports and to fly to less congested ones at a low price. The aircrafts are designed with reclining ultraleather seats, with a section of each cabin furnished with seats that recline further than the others.
The concept of the new airline is to be able to provide high-quality, low cost air travel, since only 5% of Brazilians fly domestically due to the high cost of airfare. Current prices in December start at around R$318 (US$138) round-trip, payable in installments.
To find out more, visit the official Azul website.
Comments:
Vincent:
Been to Brasil about 6 times in the past 4 years. Always call your credit card company and/or bank before you leave and tell them you will be there. If you don’t your account will be frozen the first time you try to hit an ATM, until they hear from you, which is more difficult (but not impossible) from Brasil