The president of the aviation group said yesterday that SATA will not have any new routes this summer. The group intends to concentrate its operation on flights serving the Azores and strengthen inter-island connections in the archipelago.
“What we have planned is to concentrate our operation via the Azores at the moment, whether it’s here [São Miguel] or in Terceira, and not to make flights that we were making last summer that didn’t serve the region, namely from Funchal and Porto to the east coast of the United States,” said Rui Coutinho, during the third Meeting of Local Accommodation in the Azores, at the Teatro Micaelense in Ponta Delgada.
The president of SATA said that Azores Airlines (the group company responsible for connections between the Azores and abroad) will not be flying to any new destinations during the high season but will increase flights to Milan (Italy) and Frankfurt (Germany).
“We want to concentrate. We think it’s time to consolidate the operation. We’re going to offer one more frequency [to Milan and Frankfurt]. In terms of new destinations, there won’t be any because of this consolidation. We still have room and capacity on our aircraft,” he stressed.

Rui Coutinho defended the need to “strengthen” the connections between the Azorean islands during the high season with one more plane, recognizing that SATA Air Açores’ 2024 operation “wasn’t the best.”
“We are studying the best way to bring this Dash Q400 aircraft. Let’s see if we can bring it in under an ACMI [rental] agreement – which isn’t bad, the problem is that with ACMI we have to waive the rent all at once – or if we can do a financial lease of an aircraft that we own and the rent is much smoother,” he stressed.
The head of the aviation group recalled that the national market continues to be the largest in the Azores and pointed out that the situation at Lisbon airport may force carriers to “make a detour further north to Porto.”
“We are almost prevented from growing at Lisbon airport. There are no slots. We wanted to grow from Pico and Faial to Lisbon, we’ve been asking for slots and we can’t get them. We’d like to add another frequency from Ponta Delgada to Lisbon and we can’t get slots,” he said.
Rui Coutinho considered a “complete break in seasonality” a “utopia” and warned that SATA must “maximize the use of aircraft.”
“We need to maximize the use of our aircraft at the moment. To have more occupancy on existing routes, because we need to turn around the company’s results,” he said.
This month, SATA presented a financial sustainability plan, with measures valued at 65 million euros, which are expected to have an impact as early as 2025.
The Azorean aviation group lost 43.6 million euros in the first nine months of 2024.
In June 2022, the European Commission approved 453.25 million euros in Portuguese state aid in loans and guarantees to support Azores Airlines’ restructuring. The aid provided for measures such as reorganizing the structure and divesting a controlling stake (51%).

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.