Brazilian carrier Azul will start direct flights to the US next year, after announcing the addition of 11 wide body Airbus jets to its fleet.
Azul is Brazil’s third largest carrier and was established in 2008 by JetBlue founder David Neeleman.
Azul will take delivery of six Airbus A330-200s in 2015, followed by five Airbus A350-900 jets in early 2017.
The expansion plans are a big departure for Azul, which has so far only operated underserved regional markets in Brazil using 120-seat Embraer planes.
It currently flies to over 100 destinations in Brazil and has a workforce of over 10,000.
No definite US cities have been confirmed yet, but Neeleman said Azul will look to fly into south Florida next year and then New York.
Flights would depart from its Sao Paulo hub.
"Our customers have been asking for this and now we look forward to providing them with our superior service on international flights, just as we have been doing today on our 880 daily domestic departures," Neeleman said.
