Azul eyes 40% annual cargo revenue surge

Azul founder David Neeleman anticipates the Brazilian airline’s cargo business will take off in the coming years thanks to booming growth of e-commerce in Latin America. “Forty percent year-over-year,” Neeleman says Wednesday, speaking of Azul’s cargo business. “It’s going to get bigger and bigger, and then you get economies of scale, and you just keep getting bigger and bigger as you can deliver to more and more [destinations].” The Sao-Paolo based airline, which last week reported a profit for the coronavirus-plagued fourth quarter of 2020, thinks its freight operation will help drive a post-pandemic recovery. While passenger revenue crawls back to normal levels, Azul’s Q4 cargo revenue jumped to R255m ($45.7m), up 66% from the same period in 2019. For the full year, its cargo revenue increased 31.8% over 2019 levels, to R705m. The carrier expects the sharp upward cargo trend will continue as it partners with e-commerce companies that are desperately searching for delivery solutions to far-flung cities across the vast country.<br/>