By Andrea Hargraves 
The departure of the Airbus A350 from Azul Linhas Aéreas to Portugal will not be a test flight for approval to operate the aircraft in the company. There are other reasons for the ANAC team to cross the ocean.
An Airbus A350 took off from Azul on Saturday, bound for Lisbon for an international flight for the first time. On board, in addition to the crew, there were specialists from the National Agency for Civil Aviation (ANAC) to evaluate the flight, as part of the certificates required to officially include the aircraft model in the company’s fleet.
But not only this. According to what was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation last Friday, October 14, five ANAC employees have taken their leave in order to be able to certify the A350, as well as to implement Audit of the primary certificate of the Secondary Maintenance Base in Lisbon.
If this certification is approved, Azul will be able to perform maintenance and inspections of the aircraft while waiting for the next flight in Lisbon. Previously, this service was provided, if necessary, by TAP M&E, the maintenance department of the Portuguese airline that provides support to Azul in the country.