In a statement, Brazilian airline Azul SA said, it had clinched an agreement with its aircraft lessors that would help it save nearly $594.61 million (3.2 billion reais) in working capital through 2021; the deal will see repayments from 2023.

The Brazilian airliner has been in negotiations with lessors following the Wuhan coronavirus crisis derailing Latin America’s air travel industry in March 2020. As the COVID-19 crisis set in, Azul had hired a restructuring firm and had commenced renegotiating its debts out of court so as to avoid filing a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Azul has now said, it has hammered out new agreements which cover 98% of the company’s leasing liabilities; it has also managed to reduce its rental costs by 77% between April and December 2020.

It would compensate for these discounts by paying a “slightly higher” leasing costs from 2023.

Azul SA is Brazil’s third biggest airline and is controlled by David Neeleman, Jet Blue’s founder.

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