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| Founded | August 21, 1941 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | June 15, 1947 | ||||||
| Operating bases | João Paulo II Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | SATA Imagine | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Azores Airlines | ||||||
| Fleet size | 7 | ||||||
| Destinations | 13 | ||||||
| Parent company | Grupo SATA | ||||||
| Headquarters | Ponta Delgada,São Miguel | ||||||
| Key people | Teresa Gonçalves (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | azoresairlines.pt | ||||||
SATA Air Açores is aPortugueseairline based inSão Sebastião,Ponta Delgada in theAzores,Portugal.[1][2] It operates scheduled passenger, cargo and mail services around the Azores. It provides its own maintenance and handling services and manages four regional airports. Its main base is atJoão Paulo II Airport, Ponta Delgada. It also maintains a subsidiary for mid- and long-haul flights,Azores Airlines, the formerSATA International.
On August 21, 1941, a group of investors that included Augusto Rebelo Arruda, José Bensaude, Augusto d'Athayde, Corte Real Soares de Albergaria, Albano de Freitas da Silva and the company Bensaude & Co. Lda. (through its managing director António de Medeiros e Almeida) establishedSociedade Açoreana de Estudos Aéreos Lda. (English:Azorean Aviation Studies Company, Ltd.) to look into the feasibility of developing an inter-island airline that would link theAzorean archipelago and continentalPortugal, and to obtain the government concession to do so. Augusto Rebelo Arruda eventually transferred his shares to Bensaude & Co. Lda. on September 15, 1947, although the firstSociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos (English:Azorean Air Transport Company) flight occurred fromSanta Maria Airport in June 1947. Captain Marciano Veiga piloted the first flight at the controls of a twin-engine Beechcraft (namedAçor) with seven passengers.
The Portuguese government granted a temporary concession to the airline, which operated mail, cargo and air passenger services betweenSão Miguel (Santana Field, until 1969),Terceira (atAchada,Lajes) andSanta Maria airports. By May 23, 1948, the airline had received twode Havilland DH.104 Dove aircraft to supplement its operations. On August 5, 1948, one of these Beechcraft failed to take to the air and crashed on take-off: all the passengers and crew were killed, prompting the suspension of flight operations. Two new DH.104 Doves would be delivered on May 23, 1949, with the capacity for nine passengers, and aDouglas DC-3 Dakota (CS-TAD) with capacity for 26 passengers would enter into by July 1, 1964.
In 1969, Nordela Airport (which would eventually be rechristened João Paulo II International) in Ponta Delgada (Relva) was inaugurated to civil traffic and would become the SATA base of operations. By 1971,TAP Air Portugal would begin Lisbon-Ponta Delgada service, and the airport inHorta,Faial would be inaugurated on August 24, 1971. The airline would eventually replace its aging fleet withHawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops (1972) with a larger capacity and range, that would fly between the newer airports constructed in all nine islands of the archipelago (between 1981 and 1983). In 1976, thePortuguese Air Force offered twoDouglas DC-6 airplanes with a continental range. They were to be used effectively during a TAP strike that allowed SATA to extend their services to Lisbon. By April 14, 1977, it would have transported 1 million passengers throughout the regional market.
It was originally formed as a private company (50% interest held by Bensaude & Co.Lda.), but on 17 October 1980 it was reborn as a state-owned enterprise (SOE) operated by theRegional Government and TAP Air Portugal. It became a signatory of theEuropean Regions Airline Association (ERA) and theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) charters in 1980 when it became an SOE, which it remains as of March 2014. The name of the airline changed in 1980 to SATA Air Açores.
Between 1989 and 1990, the inter-islandHS 748 aircraft were gradually replaced byBAe ATP, after the first aircraft (namedSanta Maria) entered service in 1989. Eventually, other planes would be added, reflecting the regional politics, each aircraft would be named after an island (Flores, in 1990, andGraciosa, in 1991), including a smallDornier 228-212 that was added to link thesmall island of Corvo, which substituted aCASA C-212 Aviocar Series 100 operated by thePortuguese Air Force. A revitalization program was initiated in the late part of the 2000s to rationalize and upgrade existing aircraft, resulting in a competition between ATR and Bombardier to supply the necessary equipment that met the needs of the archipelago. The decision[3] to purchase Bombardier NextGen aircraft was not without controversy.[4] The latest phase of its fleet renovation, which complies with a 15–20 year plan,[5] began in July 2009, with the entry into service of two Bombardier Q200. It was followed up with a ceremony inToronto,Ontario, on 25 January 2010, when the firstnext-generation Bombardier Q400, registration CS-TRD, was unveiled. The first of a series (four in all) began arriving at the end of January 2010; the second, registration CS-TRE, was received on 11 February, and the remaining planes arrived in March (registered CS-TRF and CS-TRG). The Q400 aircraft were projected for the short distance, high-density markets with the archipelago andMacaronesian destinations. Its two PW150A engines, allows the planes to cruise at 667 kilometres per hour (360 kn; 414 mph), while transporting 80 passengers comfortably for distances up to 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi), markedly within the limits of the archipelago.
SATA introduced a new logo with the new fleet revitalization; referred to asBlue Island Açor,[6] it was inaugurated with the appearance of the first Bombardier aircraft, the Q200. Based on a year-long effort, and over 100 drafts, the re-imagined modernAçor brand was designed by Ivity-Corp.[7] It is basically a geometric composite of nine-shapes, representing the nine islands of thearchipelago, joined to form the ubiquitousAçor identified in the legend. When exploded, each shape can be placed alone in geographical context to form a modernist map of the Azores.[8]
As of August 2025[update], SATA Air Açores operates the following aircraft:[9]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bombardier Dash 8-Q200 | 2 | — | 37 | ||
| Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 | 5[10] | — | 80 | ||
| Total | 7[11] | — | |||
SATA Air Açores previously also operated the following aircraft types:[citation needed]
Media related toSATA Air Açores at Wikimedia Commons
37°44′28″N25°41′53″W / 37.74111°N 25.69806°W /37.74111; -25.69806
