SAO PAULO, May 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian airline Azul's ( AZUL )

losses narrowed in the first quarter to 324.2 million

reais ($62.86 million), it reported on Monday, as demand for air

travel in the country picked up.

The airline, which has faced high leasing and interest

costs, has also been hurt by the depreciation of Brazil's real

against the dollar and reported a loss of 847.3 million reais

related to foreign exchange swings in the first quarter.

Its overall loss narrowed from a 727.6 million real loss in

the first quarter of 2023.

Azul ( AZUL ) said that both its revenue and core earnings reached

all-time highs for a first quarter, with traffic as measured by

revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) rising 1.7% from a year

earlier.

The company had in March bumped up its estimate for

earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization

(EBITDA) this year due to rising demand in Latin America's

largest economy.

"We are especially encouraged by the progress we are

making in aircraft utilization," Chief Executive John Rodgerson

said in a statement, adding the company is fully focused on

increasing its profitability.

"We will generate significant EBITDA, free cash flow and

margin expansion in the second half of 2024 and in the years to

come," he said.

Azul's ( AZUL ) first-quarter EBITDA came in at 1.42 billion

reais, up 37.4% year-on-year, while net revenue rose 4.5% to

4.68 billion reais. The top line landed slightly below the 4.88

billion reais expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

($1 = 5.1579 reais)