The Court of Auditors (TdC) has revealed that Tarifa Açores has cost 18.9 million euros since 2021 and warned that the Regional Government’s subsidy delays have burdened SATA’s treasury.
According to a TdC audit, Tarifa Açores, a subsidy created by the Regional Government that allows air travel at 60 euros (round trip) for residents, cost 18.9 million euros between 2021 and 2024 “with reference to the resolutions approved until 2023”.
According to the report, even though the subsidy regulation stipulates that compensation from the Regional Government to SATA must be paid within 15 days, “there was an average delay in payment of 30 days”, which burdens the airline’s treasury.
“The delays in payments are a burden on SATA’s internal financial management, and it seems pertinent to reconsider the slowness and demands of the current invoicing system implemented for the Regional Government, along with the need to increase transparency,” the document reads.
The Azores Fare (Tarifa Açores) came into force in June 2021 and was one of José Manuel Bolieiro’s (PSD) banners during the 2020 regional election campaign.
The TdC considers the measure “immediate, comprehensive and unbureaucratic” and points out that, in 2023, around 333,798 passengers benefited from the support, representing an increase of 19% compared to 2022.
“The islands that handled the most passengers under the Azores Fare were São Miguel and Terceira. In relative terms, in 2023 there was growth on the islands of Corvo, Faial, Pico and Flores,” they say.

The judges point out that the “design” of the Azorean AirFare was not accompanied by “preparatory studies that included, in particular, a financial, economic and social analysis,” nor “were targets or performance indicators defined,” which “compromises the evaluation of the measure.”
The court points out that “the existence of any supervisory action” by the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility, and Infrastructures since the creation of the measure has not been ascertained and warns that there is a “duplication of tasks” within that government department which acts “simultaneously as inspector and inspected.”
“The supervisory powers should be assigned to a third party, which ensures that the obligations relating to compliance with the duty to provide information on the operation of the subsidy and the duty to provide information to data subjects are met,” they argue.
The TdC also points out that the procedures for processing the personal data of resident passengers need to be improved”.
The Regional Government revealed in August 2024 that, during the first half of that year, 163,616 round trips were made by inter-island residents with the Azores Fare, allowing SATA to earn 4.1 million euros.

in Dário dos Açores-Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.