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David Neeleman Confirms His Brazilian Airline

UPDATE: The airline will have leather seats and individual seatback LiveTV, a la JetBlue. There's even a contest to name it. Check out the website for David Neeleman's new airline here (in Portuguese).

David Neeleman himself has finally confirmed his plans for a new Brazilian airline...plans we've been watching closely and speculating on for a while now.

The founder of JetBlue Airways announced a new Brazilian airline on Thursday, to begin operating next year with three jets and eventually grow to a fleet of 76 planes flying nationwide.

JetBlue chairman David Neeleman said the opportunity is clear: Latin America's largest nation has a growing passenger travel market dominated by two airlines that face little domestic competition and charge high prices.

"The prices that people pay here in Brazil are 50 percent higher than the prices people pay in the United States. ... Brazil is a country that needs more competition and a different kind of competition."

The as-yet-nameless airline has 36 E-195 jets on order from Embraer. Neeleman confirmed that he has "raised US$150 million (€95 million) for the venture so far from investors in the United States and Brazil." So he hasn't mentioned Branson yet. Yet! There's always room for more to be revelead. You never know...

Related Stories:
· Founder of JetBlue Airways to start new Brazilian airline [AP/IHT]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: Embraer Confirms That Neeleman's Planning Something [Jaunted]
· David Neeleman coverage [Jaunted]