Yesterday, the SATA group’s management presented a financial sustainability plan aimed at saving 65 million euros. The plan includes 40 measures based on increasing revenue, reducing costs, increasing operational efficiency, and modernizing internal resource management.
The chairman of SATA’s board of directors, Rui Coutinho, said at the press conference held in São Miguel that the plan drawn up by the group’s management teams will “be reflected in the financial year 2025”.
“With this, we are fully aware that we are going to get the companies (SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines) moving in another direction in the short/medium term, which is what we want, to get SATA flying higher,” he said, quoted by Agência Lusa.
According to a press release from the SATA group, the plan is “aligned with the outlook for the air transport sector in 2025”. It is structured around three main strategic objectives: increasing revenue and reducing costs, with 13 measures, improving operational efficiency (17 initiatives), and restructuring support services (10 actions).
In the field of increasing revenue, examples of measures include re-evaluating fares and optimizing the operational plan, abandoning some routes, making advertising space available on aircraft, modernizing the fleet to increase passenger capacity, and reorganizing the cargo transport offer to gain efficiency.
In terms of operational efficiency, there is, for example, the completion of the renewal of the Azores Airlines fleet and the start of the renewal of the SATA Air Açores fleet, the adaptation of catering to the characteristics of each route, the creation of a committee dedicated to monitoring punctuality, the restructuring of maintenance operations, and the increased use of green energy in ground equipment.
Plans also exist to modernize the contact center and the corporate website and to make joint purchases with partner companies to optimize costs.

“The introduction of in-flight sales and the expansion of complementary services, the automation of processes to reduce aircraft turnaround times and improve punctuality, the optimization of synergies and complementarity between SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines and the reinforcement of service channels at airports, ContactCenter and CustomerCare services, are other measures planned within the scope of the services provided by the group,” says SATA.

It is pointed out that “since taking office in July 2024, the board of directors of SATA holding has been actively working on implementing sustainable management strategies”.
“The sustainability plan now presented was drawn up after identifying opportunities for improvement by the company’s structures, and is the result of the efforts of working groups made up of experienced employees, who continually identify new opportunities for diversification and innovation, in line with the demands and evolution of the air transport sector,” adds the group.
Rui Coutinho was asked by journalists about the privatization process of Azores Airlines (SATA Internacional) and confirmed that it is continuing, but without providing any further information.
On this matter, the chairman of the board of directors said that there was “no news” but that “the sooner, the better.”
In May, the regional government announced the cancellation of the Azores Airlines privatization tender and the launch of a new tender.

The government’s reasoning was that the company had been revalued at 20 million euros and not the original six million.
The Regional Government rejected at the time that the reservations about the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, also expressed by the tender jury, had influenced the decision.
Back in December, the president of the regional government, José Manuel Bolieiro, said that negotiations were still underway between SATA and the same consortium, and the government was not involved.
“First clarification: we want to privatize Azores Airlines. Secondly, we will comply with what has been established with the European Commission. Thirdly, the government is not involved in negotiations because that is the responsibility of the holding company’s management,” he said in an interview with Antena 1 and RTP Açores.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director.

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