Azul announces two Brazil-to-Florida routes

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Azul, Brazil’s largest airline by the number of cities served, recently announced it is adding two routes beginning in December, the peak of the Brazilian flying season.

The first route will fly from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to Orlando, Florida while the second route will fly from Belem, Brazil, to Fort Lauderdale.

Both routes will be nonstop flights.

“Not only have our customers been asking for these flights, but this also strengthens our strategic positioning in these important cities,” David Neeleman, Azul’s founder and chairman, said. “In addition to the new nonstop flights, we are also optimizing connectivity as well as increasing frequencies to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando from our Sao Paulo – Viracopos hub. I am extremely happy to be able to offer almost five daily nonstop flights from Brazil to Florida to our customers.”

Orlando is one the most popular cities for Brazilian tourists. The United States accounts for 25 percent of Brazil’s international seat capacity.

Azul offers more than 739 daily flights and has a fleet of 123 aircraft.

The airline will launch its new Airbus A320neo on the Fort Lauderdale route. In January 2016, the airline signed a purchase agreement for more than 35 Airbus A320neos, with the option of leasing 28 more.