S4 RZO Commenced operations 1991 Frequent-flyer program SATA Imagine Founded 1990 | RZO AZORES Operating bases Fleet size 6 | |
Profiles | ||
Azores Airlines, previously known as SATA Internacional, is an Azorean airline based in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel in the autonomous archipelago of the Azores. A subsidiary of SATA Air Açores, the airline operates as the international arm of the regional network, connecting the archipelago with Europe and North America, from its hub at João Paulo II International Airport.
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Early years
The airline was first established in December 1990 under the name of OceanAir and in 1991 was authorized to operate air transport services as a non-scheduled carrier. SATA Air Açores became the major shareholder when OceanAir suspended service in 1994. It later became the sole owner, and on 20 February 1998 it was re-branded as SATA International, resuming operations on 8 April 1998. The airline's original livery consisted of an all white fuselage with the name SATA Internacional in ocean blue over the front windows, and a dark blue tail with the company logo. Before this the livery had an idealized logo featuring the bands of crashing waves, superimposed by a sun-disk, with the calligraphic lettering "Fly Azores" below. This tourist-friendly logo was retired at the end of the 20th century, to be replaced by the more corporate image. The airline became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo SATA (the parent company).
Following its bid by public tender, SATA International was awarded scheduled routes from Ponta Delgada to Lisbon, Madeira Island and Porto. Today SATA operates a number of transatlantic routes such as Faro to Toronto nonstop. SATA owns two tour operators in North America: SATA Express in Canada and Azores Express in the United States.
21st century
After May 2009, SATA adopted a new brand image and a new logo which was applied to its first new Airbus A320-200, registered CS-TKO and named "Diáspora". The symbol, called BIA (for "Blue Islands Açor"), consisted of nine geometrical shapes, representing the nine islands of the Azores assembled to form the mythical Açor of Portuguese legend. The "açor" or goshawk was thought to have been the bird found circling the islands of the Azores when Portuguese sailors first discovered the archipelago. This form appeared on the tail fin, in addition to a portion located just ahead of the wings on the fuselage. The new scheme was adopted by both SATA International and SATA Air Açores during the fleet upgrades beginning at the end of the 1990s and lasted until 2015.
In January 2015, the airline announced strategic plans to reduce its debts from €179 m to €40 m by 2020 by reducing its fleet and workforce. Under the plan it would also be renamed Azores Airlines.
In October 2015, SATA International subsequently announced a major rebranding including a name change to Azores Airlines and a change of the colour scheme from blue tones to green tones. In the same time, a fleet renewal with Airbus A330 aircraft has been announced. The first A330 flight took place on 25 March 2016 from Ponta Delgada to Boston.
In September 2016, the airline announced a change of plans regarding their fleet renewal. While plans to phase in a second Airbus A330 have been cancelled, Azores Airlines ordered two Airbus A321neo on interim lease for 2017-2019 and four Airbus A321LR which will be delivered in 2019 to replace the interim A321neos and other older aircraft.
Destinations
Azores Airlines operates scheduled flights to the Madeira Islands, mainland Portugal and other destinations in Europe and North America, as well as charter flights. Domestic destinations are covered by its parent company, SATA Air Açores. This is a list of the airports served as of April 2016:
Fleet
As of September 2016, the Azores Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Further smaller aircraft are operated by parent SATA Air Açores under its own license.