The Government of the Azores approved a loan guarantee from banks or other financial institutions to the SATA group for €75 million.

After a general meeting on Tuesday, the statement was read yesterday by the regional secretary for Finance, Planning, and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, who said, as quoted by Agência Lusa, that the guarantee will help the group “meet its future financial obligations.”

According to DI, the amount in question will be applied to Azores Airlines (SATA Internacional).

Duarte Freitas also told journalists at a conference in Ponta Delgada that the privatization process of Azores Airlines could enter its final stage in September, with a “concrete proposal” from the competing consortium.

“We expect that soon (…) the talks between the consortium and the board of directors of SATA, which are being led by the jury, will come to an end,” he said.

“What we want is that, during the month of September at the latest, we can finalize this concrete proposal from the consortium,” he continued.

Duarte Freitas emphasized that the timing for completing the privatization process also depends on other entities. “These are very delicate and complex processes and, as you can imagine, some entities have deadlines to respond, others do not, but it is inevitable that, once there is a concrete response, it will be analyzed by the national Competition Authority and also by ANAC,” he stressed.

In December 2024, José Manuel Bolieiro, the president of the Regional Government, confirmed that the Region will assume the airline’s debt.

The restructuring process of Azores Airlines, negotiated with the European Commission, has already involved state aid amounting to €453.25 million.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director.