RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Azul has revealed a striking new livery on an Embraer E195-E2. The aircraft’s special livery is based on the graffiti of São Paulo and features Spix’s macaws on each side. Christened, “Ararinha Azul,” this will be a treat for avgeeks and passengers alike to see the aircraft in revenue commercial service.
The new livery
The new livery is on an E195-E2. A tropical theme, it features three ‘ararinhas’, or Spix’s macaws, on each side, hence the name “Ararinha Azul.” The Spix’s macaw is an important bird for Brazil. Once considered extinct for over 20 years, several were recently discovered in captivity.
The livery itself has 59 non-corrosive paint colors. According to Embraer, of these, 28 are specially blended to capture the look of Brazil’s vibrant tropical landscape. The aircraft’s painting took 10 days and happened at Embraer’s facility in São José dos Campos. The aircraft was first masked, and then automated robots applied the paint to the aircraft.
Airlines decide the livery for aircraft. Azul commissioned AzkoNobel and Tintas Coral, a Brazilian paint company, for the project. Despite being incredibly complicated, the paint used on this aircraft is about the same weight as a conventional livery. The paint is durable and will handle the extreme forces an aircraft experiences, including rain, cruise, air pressure changes, takeoffs, and landings, among others.
The artist and the livery
São Paulo graffiti artist, Luiz Pardal, designed the livery for this aircraft. You can tell it is a Pardal work at the back of the fuselage. There is a sparrow at the back, which is Pardal’s signature mark. In fact, the word “pardal” means sparrow in English. Pardal is Portuguese.
São Paulo has a significant amount of beautiful, vibrant, and intense graffiti. A neighborhood known as Batman’s Alley is known for plenty of beautiful graffiti and artwork on the exterior boundary walls. The livery is reminiscent of that culture.
The aircraft
The registration of the Embraer E195-E2 is PS-AEF. The aircraft is brand new. According to data from Flightradar24, the aircraft is in commercial service, flying mostly from Viracopos – Campinas International Airport (VCP). Viracopos is one of the main hubs for Azul. For example, Azul flies a variety of high-profile long-haul international destinations out of Viracopos.
Azul was founded by David Neeleman, who is known as the founder of American success JetBlue. Azul has a significant fleet of Embraer E-Jet aircraft. The E2s are some of the newest in Azul’s fleet, having taken the first E195-E2 in September of 2019.
As part of the ongoing crisis, Azul, like many other airlines, reworked its delivery schedule, and only recently started to take on new jets, including this aircraft. The airline is starting to experience recovery and even recently announced a restart of commercial operations from Galeão International Airport (GIG) in Rio de Janeiro. Also, early on in the crisis, the airline signed a codeshare agreement with LATAM Brasil.