Azul Brazilian Airlines Takes The Most Biodiverse Place On Earth

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Recognized by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil as the most sustainable company in the sector in the country, Azul Airlines has been soaring high with its ESG strategy and actions to become not only the best airline in the world but also, the best for the world. Their latest effort towards this goal was signing the Brazilian Business Commitment for Biodiversity, created by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS). Among the initiatives that put the company on the spotlight, the Amazon Project became the greatest example of how the company has collaborated to ensure that everyone has the right to fly with the least impact on the environment. And flying, in this case, goes far beyond the literal meaning of the verb.

Azul is already the company with the highest number of flights and cities served in Brazil, and intends to get even closer to the Amazon, and not just through its flights there. Today, with a diversified fleet that includes even Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft with nine seats, the airline is able to reach 43 cities in the Legal Amazon, which includes not only Manaus but municipalities throughout the entire northern region. According to Filipe Alvarez, Sustainability Manager at Azul, the new flights that the company also wants to launch are those that can be taken by small producers, through the development of the local bioeconomy. “Our main goal with the Amazon Project is to support cooperatives that are already recognized and offer, for example, transportation of Amazonian products at cost price to the main consumer markets in the country,” explains Jason. Currently, the airline already supports 11 such institutions that together help develop and preserve over 10 million hectares of forest. The executive also mentions that the company sponsored the trip of 40 community leaders and indigenous people to the Women of the Forest Seminar in March, which strengthened female leadership in the Amazon. It has also facilitated, in partnership with the NGO Conexão Povos da Floresta, the transportation of kits (computer, cellphone, and antenna) to provide satellite internet access to communities. “The goal is to deliver up to five thousand of these kits by 2025,” explains the executive. And since the beginning of the year, when purchasing any ticket through the company’s application, Azul’s customers can offset the CO2 emissions related to their seat by choosing to pay an additional fee that is transferred to certified projects for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest.

Filipe Alvarez de Oliveira, Azul’s Sustainability Manager

His mission is to lead the Sustainability strategy in preparing the company to achieve its climate neutrality goal by 2045 and to play a prominent role in the climate agenda of the aviation industry in Brazil.