Azul Linhas Aéreas Denied Slots At London Heathrow Airport

In accordance with Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) report, Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas applied for slots at London Heathrow Airport and was denied. The slots requested were for the Winter 2023 (W23) season, which runs from October 29 to March 30, 2024.

Attempted expansion to London

Azul, a Brazilian carrier founded by David Neeleman, has been slowly attempting to expand its international network. The airline launched flights to Paris-Orly lower than two months ago using its Airbus A350s, and, based on Air Data News, Azul was attempting to expand to the UK. An Airport Coordination Limited (an organization that manages airport slots at airports worldwide) report states Azul requested 308 slots at London Heathrow Airport but was granted none.

Photo: Lukas Souza | Easy Flying

The slot application at Heathrow was made discreetly, as Azul had never publicly expressed interest in flying to London. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the carrier announced flights to Latest York from its hub at Viracopos International Airport. The plan was to fly day by day to Latest York, however the pandemic halted those plans, and the carrier has not announced anything since, though sources have informed Easy Flying that the carrier plans to launch JFK flights in October.

Azul’s international network

In February, Azul announced the launch of a brand new route from its hub at Tancredo Neves International Airport (CNF), commonly often called Confins, to the Dutch-Caribbean island of Curação (CUR). Starting June 24, the carrier will operate one weekly flight to CUR on Saturdays. The return flight will leave CUR on Sundays at 08:30 and arrive in CNF at 16:00.

Click here for Confins – Curacao flights.

Currently, Azul flies to 6 international destinations in five countries. From its VCP hub, the airline offers flights to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando (MCO), Lisbon (LIS), and Paris (ORY). Azul serves Punta del Este (PDP) and Montevideo (MVD) from Porto Alegre, and flights from CNF to FLL and CUR are launching later this month. From Recife, Azul flies to MCO, FLL, and MVD, and from Manaus (MAO), it flies to FLL.

Click here for Campinas – Paris flights.

Photo: Lukas Souza | Easy Flying

Azul’s international routes are operated by almost every aircraft type in its fleet. The carrier relies heavily on its Airbus A330s for its long-haul operations, but its two A350s are deployed to Paris. Currently, the airline has three Airbus A330-200s in operation and one other five A330-900s, with an additional 4 to be delivered. The Embraer E195 and E195 E-2 are used on flights from Porto Alegre, and the Airbus A320neos on flights from northern Brazil and CNF.

From South America to London

Certainly one of Azul’s competitors, the LATAM Airlines Group, also requested 308 slots at Heathrow during winter and was granted 220. The slots were awarded to the Peruvian branch of LATAM, which is able to launch Lima-London flights. LATAM Brasil already operates day by day flights between São Paulo and London using its fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs. oneworld carrier British Airways also flies the route day by day using its Airbus A350-1000s.

Three carriers fly between South America and London Heathrow. The primary two are mentioned above, and Colombian carrier Avianca flies from Bogotá using its Boeing 787-9s. British Airways flies to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Santiago.

Click here for London – Buenos Aires flights.

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