Review of Azul flight Campinas → Recife in Economy

Airline Azul
Flight AD6950
Class Economy
Seat 22K
Aircraft Airbus A330-200
Flight time 02:35
Take-off 06 Apr 16, 10:15
Arrival at 06 Apr 16, 12:50
AD   #38 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 63 reviews
joaointhesky
By 2267
Published on 17th April 2016
Since Azul started its first flights with the A330, I wanted to fly on them. That's because I keep up with the airline since it was founded, on 2008. Since then, it has become my favorite airline. And finally, after almost two years after the A330 was announced on the airline, I had the chance to fly in one of them.
On my birthday, I got many miles. I had no doubt of which flight I'd try to buy with this miles: a roundtrip to Recife with Azul. VCP-REC-VCP flights were going to be operated by the A330. Fortunately, the miles I got coincided exactly with the price of the flight.
I was going to do POA-VCP-REC-VCP-POA on AD4134/6950/6970/4249 flights. My first flight was at 6:00AM and the last one was at 12:20AM. And in the day after my flights I had class - I have to wake up ay 5AM to go to my school! Things only planespotters understand!
A nice thing is that there are two kinds of EspaçoAzul (Blue Space) on the A330: Economy Xtra (it costs more or less R$80 per flight, about 22 dollars) and Business Xtra (costs R$300 per flight, about 84 dollars). Even though the catering is the same as Economy's, it is really worth the price! But these prices are only for domestic flights.
Three days before I made the check-in by Azul's app. Everything worked, but the boarding pass of the return fly was only generated after some attempts.
And finally the great day arrived! After a very nice flight between POA and VCP, I deboarded the aircraft. But there was something missing… my tripod! As soon as I got on the terminal, I talked to a gate agent and she quickly tried to help me. In a few minutes, my tripod was back! :D
In the days before, PR-AIV (Brazilian flag livery) was making all domestic flights operated by the A330 (VCP-MAO, VCP-REC and VCP-NAT). This is because AIV was the last Airbus without the retrofit. But, from what I've been told, an airport vehicle crashed on it, so it had to be grounded when it arrived at VCP. So, another aircraft had to be assigned to my flight.
The boarding was delayed, probably because of the change of the aircraft. Anyway, the aircraft that was going to take me to Recife was PR-AIU "Red, White and Azul", on Azul Viagens (Azul Travel) special livery. It was the last A330 received by Azul and the first to have the new interior. It was delivered to Emirates in 2002 and stored in 2012. It was delivered to Azul last September.
A bus took us to our airplane. For my surprise, it was parked on a position of the new Terminal, that wasn't opened for domestic flights. We boarded by stairs, and not by the boarding bridge.



The flight attendants recieved each passenger with a smile and asked they seats, saying to each one where to go on the aircraft. Unfortunately, because of the aircraft change - the flight was going to be PR-AIV, on the old interior - they didn't know if all Business Xtra passengers were going to have a seat. At the end of the boarding, only one Business Xtra passenger had to go to Economy Class. Less awful it was a standby pax.

The crew on this flight was made up of Captain Kempis and First Officer Charles Campos. The flight attendants were Juliano (purser), Mariana Oliveira, Bruna, Mariana Ferreira, Ellen, Andressa, Luis and Tatiana.

I went to my seat looking at all around me. For someone who's never flew on a widebody, it was an incredible thing. The aircraft interior was beautiful, and during the boarding an instrumental music, apparently a brazilian one, creating a joyful atmosphere.
We were very late. Captain Kempis made a speech informing us about the route, flight conditions and said that was going to try to catch up.
Soon the doors were closed and the pushback started, around 10:00PM (45 minutes late). The purser made a welcome speech and then the safety instructions were passed on our AVOD screens.

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After the taxi, we waited at the holding point of runway 15 for a Cessna touch and go. After that, we lined up. Gradually, the captain applied some throttle. In a few seconds, the engines were at its maximum. Soon we were climbing, starting our flight to Recife.



After the take-off, I explored the AVOD system a little bit. It is very simple to use it. The screen sensitivity is nice. There were a lot of songs, movies and games. Among the movies, big successes and launches like The Fault in Ours Stars, Minions and others.
And it's not just that: the AVOD had a very good flight map system, with many view options. And we could see the flight from the outside by two cameras: one in the aircraft belly, and another in the front part. On cruise altitude, it was almost impossible to see something from the cameras, though.

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Besides, it was possible to call the flight attendants from the AVOD screen and turn on the reading lights, too. On international flights it is possible to ask food by the screen.
Speaking of that, let's talk about the meals. As we were on a domestic flight, they offered Azul's famous snacks. The options were orange muffin, polvilho biscuit, cheese cracker, orange cookies and the awesome jelly candies. I asked for the muffin, the cookies and the candies.
The drinks were Coca-Cola, guaraná, water and juices. I chose a Coke.

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As I was on that flight just to fly on the A330, I soon left my seat to explore the aircraft and photograph it! A curiosity: the floor of the bathrooms simulate Copacabana's calçadão (sidewalk)!

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After some photos, I went to the galley asking for some coffee, because when they served the drinks, there wasn't. The thoughtful flight attendant prepared one for me, even asking me if it was good - and it was!
I came back to my seat to see a movie and the flightmap, but there wasn't time for it: as all the good things end fastly, soon we were descending to Recife. It was a sunny afternoon at Pernambuco's capital.



Soon we aligned and made a soft landing at REC's runway 36 at 12:50PM (28 minutes late). We quickly taxied to our parking position, ending thus our flight. Obrigado, Azul (thanks, Azul)! :)

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After everyone was deboarded, I took some photos of the Business Xtra Class.

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Bonus photos! I took these photos on the flight back to VCP.

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Verdict

Azul

9.5/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Meal/catering8.0

Campinas - VCP

8.9/10
Efficiency10.0
Access8.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Recife - REC

9.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

Azul's A330 is really amazing.
The AVOD system is perfect.
The snacks are good for a flight like this. However, after so much time, they should change some options.
The aircraft was clean and the crew was just amazing.
You can fly it from VCP to FLL, MCO, LIS (soon), MAO and REC!

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