Azul S.A. American Depositary Shares, each representing two (2) Common Shares 2026 Q2 Earnings Call
Review the key takeaways and the transcript of this earnings call.
- Azul reported second quarter 2026 operating revenue of 5 billion reais, a record for the quarter, supported by healthy demand and disciplined capacity management.
- Capacity declined 10.6% year over year, while revenue increased 0.7% year over year and revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) increased 12.7%.
- Adjusted EBITDA reached 510 million reais, representing a 10.2% margin, despite a 61% increase in fuel prices.
- Immediate liquidity ended the quarter at 3.7 billion reais, equivalent to 60.6% of last 12 months' revenue, and total debt declined by approximately 13 billion reais year over year to 21.4 billion reais.
- Azul was the most on-time airline in Brazil in April, June, and July, and in Latin America in July, with on-time performance reaching 87.7% in July.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased 26 points in 2026, reflecting improved operational reliability and customer experience.
- The company removed several widebody aircraft and expects to have only one ACMI aircraft remaining by year-end, restoring international capacity with Azul-operated aircraft and crew.
- Business units contributed more than 20% of RASK, with average fares increasing 9.5% year over year in the second quarter.
- Cost per available seat kilometer (CASK) increased 26% year over year to 44.8 cents, primarily due to a 61.8% increase in fuel cost per liter, but Azul maintains the lowest CASK in the region.
- Fuel represented an approximate 749 million reais headwind to EBITDA year over year, with Azul recapturing 60% of that impact through disciplined capacity and pricing actions.
- Recurring free cash flow was nearly break-even in the quarter, despite 794 million reais in nonrecurring payments related to restructuring obligations.
- The company ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 2.3 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA, improved from 2.8 times.
- Azul has no material debt maturities before 2031, with the only significant remaining obligation being the exit financing concentrated in that year.
- The company recently obtained approval for two financing facilities totaling up to 4.6 billion reais at attractive rates, providing additional financial flexibility.
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Transcript
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to Azul's second quarter earnings conference call. My name is Zach, and I will be your operator for today. This event is being recorded, and all participants will be in listen only mode until we conduct a Q&A session following the company's presentation. If you have a question, click on the Q&A icon at the bottom of your screen and write your name and company. When your name is announced, please turn your microphone on and proceed. For those who are listening to the conference on the phone, press 9 to join the queue and 6 to accept the audio when requested. I would like to turn the presentation over to Thais Haberli, Head of Investor Relations.
Please proceed, Thais. Thank you, Zach, and welcome all to Azul's second quarter earnings call.
The results that we announced last night, the audio of this call, and the slides that we reference are available on our IR website. I'd like to caution you regarding our forward-looking statements. Any matters discussed today that are not historical facts, particularly comments regarding the company's future plans, objectives, and expected performance constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on a range of assumptions that the company believes are reasonable but are subjected to uncertainties and risks that are discussed in detail in our CVM and SEC filings. Also, during the course of the call, we will discuss non-IFRS performance measures, which should not be considered in isolation. Presented today will be John Rodgerson, our CEO, and Antonio Garcia, our CFO. Abhi Shah, the President of Azul, is also here for the Q&A session.
With that, I will turn the call over to John.
John? Thank you, Thais. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.
We are pleased to present Azul's second quarter 2026 results. The quarter reflects the continued execution of our plan and the decisive actions we have taken to navigate higher fuel prices, protect liquidity, and build a stronger, more resilient company positioned for long-term success. As we go through the presentation, we will focus on operational reliability and customer experience, disciplined capacity and revenue management, liquidity and deleveraging, and the initiatives positioning Azul for sustainable value creation. In response to higher fuel prices, we proactively reduced capacity to protect cash and profitability. This is discipline. It reflects our commitment to align capacity with profitable demand in creating long-term value. This shows a clear change in mindset and acting in a responsible way to the macro changes.
At the same time, we continued with our fleet transition as we removed several wide body aircraft from our operation, and we will restore our international capacity throughout this year. By year-end, we expect to have only one ACMI remaining and a significant step towards a more reliable international operation operated with Azul aircraft and our own crew members. Our operational performance is the best in the region. As you will see on the next slide, Azul was the most on-time airline in Brazil in April, June, and July, and the most on-time airline in Latin America in July. We maintain the number one position month to date. This matters because reliability is a key driver of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and customer selection. The improvement is also reflected in our NPS, which increased 26 points in 2026.
A better travel experience strengthens customer loyalty, supports premium demand, and reduces the cost of operational disruptions. Together, these improvements reinforce our ability to capture premium revenue through our focus on high yield customers, enhanced customer experience, and differentiated products. This is how Azul grows revenue while maintaining disciplined capacity. It all starts with the customers. Reliable operation enhanced customer experience, translating to stronger yields, and disciplined capacity converts demand into profitability and cash generation. Together, they position Azul to navigate volatility and create sustainable long-term value. Moving to slide 4, our on-time performance reached 87.7% in July, making Azul the most on-time airline in Latin America. This follows leading performance in Brazil in April, June, and July, demonstrating the consistency of a great operation. This directly translates to our NPS, which increased 26 points since December 2025.
This reflects the direct impact of restoring fleet reliability, reducing operational disruptions, and enhancing the overall customer experience. Improving reliability is not only the right thing to do for our customers, but also a key driver of loyalty, premium demand, and higher yields. One example of this is our co-branded credit card, which just hit a record of over 1 million holders this quarter. Behind these improvements are our crew members. Azul's service culture remains one of our most important competitive advantages. By focusing on operational reliability and customer experience, our teams are reinforcing the foundation of Azul and leading us to greater profitability. On slide 5, you can see our crew members in action. I want to pause here and especially thank them for their dedication, passion, and commitment. These qualities make Azul unique and bolster our customer-centric culture, operational excellence, and differentiated travel experience.
This is a competitive advantage that cannot be replicated simply by investing in aircraft. It is built by our people every day. Our product also reinforces this differentiation. Azul operates the most modern and efficient fleet. Our Embraer aircraft are equipped with seat back entertainment, live television, and Wi-Fi, providing customers with a differentiated experience, even on domestic flights. Combined with our service culture, this product advantage strengthens loyalty and supports our premium positioning. We have the best operational performance, the best hard product, and the best people in the business. All of that while maintaining the lowest unit cost in the region. With that, I'll turn it over to Antonio, who will walk you through our second quarter results.
Antonio Well, thank you, John.
Good morning, everyone. Before discussing the results, I would also like to recognize our crew members for their dedication, passion, and commitment to our customers. Their focus on safety, service, and operational excellence is driving improvements in reliability and customer experience that differentiate Azul. Our people are the foundation for our culture and give us the confidence in our ability to execute our long-term plan. Turning to our second quarter results on slide 6, the metrics shown here underscore both the resilience of our business model and the effectiveness of our strategy. We reported operating revenue of BRL 5 billion in the second quarter record, supported by healthy demand, disciplined capacity management, strong high yields revenue, and continuous growth from our business unit. RASK increased 12.7% year-over-year to a record for second quarter of BRL 0.4341.
Adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 510 million, representing a 10.2% margin. We delivered the results in the weakest quarter of the season-wise, while also managing the significant 61% increase in fuel prices. We ended the quarter with immediate liquidity of BRL 3.7 billion, equivalent to 60.6% of the last 12 months revenue. These results delivered during the challenging quarter are exactly what we committed to our investor during the history. A disciplined airline with a stronger balance sheet and a clear path to cash generation and the ability to create value long term. On slide 7, highlights the resilience of our business model. Revenue increased 0.7% year-over-year, while capacity declined 10.6%, reflecting the disciplined capacity allocation and price actions designed to align with profitable demand and partially mitigate higher fuel prices.
Higher fares, strong yields, and solid contribution for our business unit supported both record net revenue and record unit revenue, with RASK increasing 12.7% year-over-year. On slide 8, you can see how Azul responded actively to higher fuel prices. We proactively implemented additional capacity reductions to our plan to protect liquidity and remain focused on long-term value creation. This was not reactive. Just to repeat, this is discipline. Capacity declined 10.6% in the quarter. This figure represents a combination of our restricted planned capacity and further actions taken as fuel prices increased. This proactive action enabled Azul to align capacity with profitable demand, preserve liquidity, and strength long-term financial performance. While total capacity declined, at the same time premium revenue increased 12% versus last year.
This reflects our ability to capture higher quality demand through four key actions: prioritize high-yield customer, enhancing customer experience, introduce differentiated premium products, and concentrate capacity on routes with a stronger premium demand. Our strategy is clear: prioritize revenue quality over volume. This ongoing mix shift supports stronger yields and enables Azul to sustain RASK growth while maintaining disciplined capacity. Now on slide 9, let me address another important part of our strategy, our business unit. These businesses diversify our revenue base, supported premium revenues, and enhanced the resiliency of Azul's broader ecosystem. Second quarter 2026, average fares increased 9.5% year-over-year, while our business unit continued to contribute more than 20% of RASK, reinforced their growing importance to Azul's business model and long-term value creation. Azul Fidelidade, Azul Viagens, Azul Cargo, Azul Conecta, Azul TecOps, and Azul Media are much more than just ancillary revenues.
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