Recently Azul Airlines announced the new international routes to connect Porto Alegre International Airport to Rivera International Airport in Uruguay.
After the successful flight to the Rivera, the airport will become the first binational airport in America. Brazilian passengers will be able to use it as a domestic airport service.
Brazil will use the Rivera airport as their domestic hub to transport the passengers and treat it as an entirely domestically operated full-service airport.
It is the third destination of the Azul, expanding the region to acquire more customers. The company is aggressively working towards the growth of its territory in the international aviation business. With the new airport added to the service area, the company expects more passengers from the new destination.
Moreover, Azul’s new destination to the Uruguay will be the first in the binational airport on America’s land. The new airport was recently inaugurated; thus, the facilities have been improved to accommodate the passengers. New infrastructure is implemented to offer services for Brazil and Uruguay passages. It is expected to build excellent connectivity between the countries and help the passengers get the transition flight. The airport will serve as the domestic airport for Brazilian passengers.
The South American countries have invested $13 million in the RVY airport to construct and improve the facilities.
Brazil’s authority will employ the Rivera airport for domestic passengers. The airport offers entry to Uruguay’s, and if they want to enter Brazil, they can also do that without going through the immigration process. Passengers travelling from Brazil and landing at the airport who want to enter Uruguay must go through Uruguayan immigration.
Because of the two-way entries to the passengers of the two countries, the airport could become the busiest airport in the coming months. The Brazilian and Uruguay passengers would travel on the same flight and choose to go to one of the countries. It will offer more convenience for the travellers.
Azul’s new route
The new routes of the Azul will be open in the first half of 2024. The airline is looking to operate both routes between Porto Alegre and Rivera. It will be the airline’s third destination in Uruguay. A tiny baby step towards expansion will give the company more control over the nearby international routes and help it acquire more customers.
Operating on new routes helps the airline attract more customers. It will help the company rapidly expand as more profit is generated on the new routes. Margin on the international routes is generally higher; thus, airliners focus on the more international routes in recent locations, including Paris and Curacao, and destinations such as Orlando, Lisbon, and Fort Lauderdale.
In the beginning, Azul planned to operate two weekly frequencies. The flight will depart from the Porto Alegre International Airport for the Rivera in Uruguay. The airport is located in the north of Uruguay near Santana do Livramento. The place is in the extreme south of Brazil.
Azul Airlines is more successful in Uruguay. It had its first flight to Uruguay in 2015. Since then, the company has carried over 700,000 customers. The company is consistently improving its operation to keep the travel time minimal. Due to its speedy services, the airline has seen a 22% increase in passenger numbers yearly.
Binational airports are rare worldwide because they are difficult to manage due to security concerns. Also, operating binational airports is challenging to serve the customers. For these reasons, binational airports are uncommon in the world. Some famous examples of the Binational Airport are the Geneva International Airport in Switzerland and the Tijuana International Airport in Mexico.
Furthermore, the best example of a binational airport is Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, which connects three countries. The airport is located on the border of Switzerland, France and Germany. The airport is entirely built on French territory, but passengers travelling to Switzerland get access to the entry point. Similarly, the Geneva airport is connected to the French sector.
Another example is the Mexico’s Tijuana International Airport, which is border close to the United States border. It was built as a cross-border express in 2016 to enjoy its unique geographical benefits. The traveller can enjoy direct access to San Diego, California, and the United States.
