After a decade of flying back and forth from Brazil, I finally got to fly Azul Linhas Aéreas Embraer E195. This was my first experience on this plane, so my expectations were high. I was lucky enough to be able to book an economy plus seat (more on that later) but unfortunately did not get upgraded (I paid for the ticket). Here are some things you should know before taking this trip:
Class: Economy, Plus and Business
You’ll find three cabin classes on most flights, with Economy being the only one that is not available on every route.
First Class is only available on long-haul international flights (to Europe and Brazil). It’s an incredibly luxurious experience, and it doesn’t come cheap.
Business class offers extra legroom and all of the amenities you’d expect from a premium airline, including onboard wifi.
Economy is a single-class cabin with plenty of room for everyone to spread out comfortably. Don’t expect any seatbacks or armrests—your “seat” will just be a padded bench along one side of the aircraft (you’ll still get your own seatbelt).
Passenger Comfort: 5/5
The passenger comfort in the Embraer E195 is excellent. The seats are wider than you’d expect, and even though there’s no footrest, I didn’t feel like there was any lack of space for my legs. The leather seat itself felt very comfortable, with plenty of padding around my lower back and bottom.
The Embraer E195 has a single-class configuration with all seats facing forward. Seats were comfortable enough to sleep in if needed—I got about 4 hours of shuteye on my way back to São Paulo after arriving at Rio de Janeiro at 2:30 am (the flight landed at 6:00 am). The cabin temperature was just right: not too warm and not too cool either. There was also no noise or vibration while flying high above the clouds; it was smooth sailing all the way!
Seat Size:
There’s plenty of leg and knee space to stretch out. Unfortunately, the seats aren’t angled towards one another, so it’s difficult to use the armrests as a footrest when seated in an aisle seat. The lack of a footrest also prevents you from having any place to put your feet during take-off and landing.The pitch on this aircraft is 31″, which is less than some airlines offer in economy class (35″+). This means that if you’re tall or want more personal space while flying then you might be disappointed by how close other passengers are sitting around you.
Best seat in the house: all aisle seats
The window seats are not as good because they don’t have a lot of space to put their carry-on bags and the middle seat is smaller than the other seats so people cannot spread out as much.
The layout of this aircraft is 2-4-2, which means that every row has two windows and four rows have one window each. The aisle seat is located at row 24, 25, 31 or 32 (as you can see in the diagram below).
Conclusion
Overall, Azul Linhas Aéreas offers a great product with its Embraer E195. They have some of the best in-flight entertainment and service in Brazil. The cabin crew is friendly, helpful and professional. If you are looking for an affordable way to travel around South America then Azul may be the perfect choice for you!
