Blue can still take further 8 aircraft fleet, says president

                   

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, the third largest company in the sector in Brazil in number of passengers, still seeking to reduce capacity in the face of lower demand for air travel in four years.

The airline has room to eliminate eight aircraft in addition to the 20 who cut since last November, said the company's president, Antonoaldo Neves in an interview.

In addition, the Chinese HNA Group, the largest shareholder of Blue, agreed to stay with two Airbus A350s whose delivery was scheduled for 2018, Neves said.

Business areas such as Latam Airlines and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes have reduced its capacity in Brazil amid two years of recession in the largest economy in Latin America. Demand for air travel has reached the lowest level since 2012 after falling for the ninth consecutive month in April, according to the Brazilian Association of Airline, the Abear.

"The industry today is not healthy. The industry is sick. It is decreasing in size and not just because of the crisis. Is that reached a profitability threshold, "said Neves, Blue headquarters in Barueri, São Paulo.

Shrinking fleets

The current fleet of the company is 123 aircraft. Since November, 17 aircraft were sent to the Portuguese TAP, in which the Blue is a minority shareholder. Among them was an Airbus A330, six ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft and 11 Embraer 190s.

In addition, the Blue returned three aircraft to lessors after the end of lease contracts. The company will receive two Airbus A320neo jets this year, two A350 aircraft next year and another A350 in 2018.

Gol is reducing its fleet of 25 Boeing 737. The Latam seeks to reduce its assets by $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion by 2018 by reducing commitments for aircraft deliveries, selling part of its fleet and failing to renew some rentals, according to a statement from the May 11 company did not disclose how many planes could be eliminated from the fleet.

"In addition to the resumption of growth, changes are needed in the regulation for the investment return," Neves said.

Charging for luggage

The National Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC, placed in public consultation changes to allow airlines cover for checked bag and increase the hand baggage allowance. The regulatory sector also proposed exempting airlines from liability in case of flights canceled for reasons unrelated to them, as adverse weather conditions.

Although consumer rights protection groups have spoken out against the changes, Neves said passengers will benefit because they will pay only for the services they want.

"There's a whole regulatory part related to consumer law that actually is a penalty to the consumer because who wants to pay less can not because you're paying for the others," he said.