Airline Azul expects pretax earnings next year to beat pre-pandemic levels

Airline Azul said Thursday it expects its 2022 pretax income to exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with executives optimistic Brazil will mount a strong economic recovery after a crushing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Azul said it expects 2022 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of roughly 4 billion reais ($759.95m), compared with 3.6b reais in 2019. Azul reported a net loss of 2.8b reais ($523m) in Q1, narrower than a year ago but wider than in the prior quarter. Executives told analysts on a call that demand has spiked in April as Brazilian authorities have relaxed restriction measures, with that demand accelerating in the past two weeks. Azul’s CE, John Rodgerson, said he has been criticized for being too optimistic in the past, but reiterated that in his view Brazil is poised for a strong recovery, pointing to climbing vaccination rates.<br/>