Azimuth A330-800 + Route Map + Seat Map

Azimuth is a premium only airline based in New York. It was founded in 2000 operating a single route from New York to London Gatwick in an attempt to capture traffic that would have previously flown via Concorde before its retirement in 1999. Azimuth originally operated a very old, recently retired L1011 for this purpose. The L1011 was fitted with industry first lie flat seating and the forward cabin was converted into a bar/lounge/internet cafe featuring a professional bartender, comfy sofa style seating, and several tables with Ethernet jacks. The Ethernet was put in to facilitate a local network and file transfers between corporate laptops, but this functionality was rarely used. The airline floundered and seemed destined to go under as air traffic declined post 9/11. However, traffic actually increased on Azimuth's route as service on big legacy carriers was cut as they flirted with bankruptcy. Business travelers flocked to Azimuth's consistently high quality service and the airline finally reached profitability even as its competitors faltered. In 2002, the L1011 was replaced with two somewhat younger and less thirsty A310s. These featured a similar interior to the L1011 with a smaller lounge which omitted the "internet" cafe functionality. After a slew of major legacy carriers declared bankruptcy in 2005 and 2006, Azimuth went on a spending spree buying the now abandoned T5, renovating a portion of it to move their operations from leased gates in EWR to a private terminal at JFK, and purchasing a used A330 to inaugurate a second route from New York to Paris Orly. The new terminal was a big hit, but the overextended airline struggled after the 2008 recession and growth ceased. In 2012, the airline's troubles eased and Azimuth inaugurated service to Hong Kong with an A340. In late 2015, a consortium approached Azimuth's board with a proposal. Since purchasing T5, Azimuth had renovated and operated out of Flight Wing 1 and the original head house. However, Flight Wing 2 remained abandoned as Azimuth had neither the money to renovate this section nor the need to use its gates. The proposal was for Azimuth to sell its rights to the land occupied by Flight Wing 2 which would be demolished and replaced by a new terminal building. The deal went through in late 2016, leaving Azimuth flush with cash. This money was funneled into Azimuth's massive order for 10 new A330-800s to expand its network and phase out all of its other aircraft. The aircraft above, N006AZ was Azimuth's first of the type and inaugurated the JFK-HOU-ABZ flight which caters to oil industry managers bound for platforms on the North Sea. The A330neos feature free inflight wifi and improved lay flight seats with large IFE screens. New routes to Zurich, Dubai, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beijing have all been launched with the new aircraft. Profits have decreased significantly thanks to efficiency and maintenance improvements, and Azimuth has plans in the works for another aircraft order to increase frequency on existing flights and begin operations to more destinations.