John Rodgerson says the scenario is challenging; company should receive 18 planes in 2024 after financial growth
The CEO of Azul Linhas Aéreas, John Rodgerson, said this Tuesday (14.Nov.2023) that it does not make sense for Brazil to have the most expensive fuel in the world for the aviation sector. He pointed out that it is nonsense for a country that produces and refines oil to have such high costs.
“Brazil is a country that refines oil, but why don’t we have cheaper oil here? Why is gas in Miami 30% cheaper? This is not good for Brazil. A country that extracts oil from the ground, which has this as an asset, having the most expensive fuel in the world makes no sense to anyone”said in an interview given to journalists virtually.
According to Rodgerson, fuel prices in Brazil make the scenario challenging for airlines. He highlighted that reducing costs, which is the main issue for companies in the sector, will stimulate competitiveness, tourism and cheaper tickets.
“If we want to stimulate tourism in Brazil, the solution is to have a different perspective when looking at this. You need to have oil that is the price of the world. I think this is an opportunity. It’s not a complaint, it’s an opportunity”said the CEO of Azul.
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John Rodgerson highlighted Azul’s impressive results in the 3rd quarter of 2023, released this Tuesday morning (Nov 14). The company recorded a record operating profit of R$957.4 million in the period.
The company maintains fleet modernization plans to increase operational efficiency and flight offerings. For 2024, the CEO says he expects the delivery of 18 new planes, 13 from Embraer and 5 from Airbus.
Of these, there will be 13 new E2 jets, from Embraer, a more modern and efficient generation than the E1. By the end of next year, at least 4 E1 planes will be out of service.
Results
Azul’s result in the 3rd quarter, with a profit of R$957.4 million, represents a growth of 137% compared to the same period last year, when profit was R$403.8 million. Here is the full report (PDF – 229 kB).
The result was driven by the increase in revenues, which also reached a record in the quarter, reaching R$4.9 billion. This is a 12.3% increase compared to the 3rd quarter of 2022. Passenger revenue was R$4.5 billion and another R$335 million refers to cargo transportation.
On the other hand, total expenses fell 0.4%, at R$3.9 billion. As a result, the airline had a profit margin of 19.5%. In the same period last year, the margin was 9.2%.
Ebitda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) also reached a historic record, reaching R$1.6 billion, an increase of 67.7% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2022.
Azul reports that it managed to reduce costs in the period, while passenger traffic grew 12% on a capacity increase of 11.5%, resulting in an occupancy rate of 82.2%, 0.4 percentage points higher compared to the same period in 2022.
