"The SATA Group celebrates the 77th anniversary of the first commercial flight of the Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos (SATA) and, to celebrate with passengers traveling on inter-island connections on this day, it resumes a ritual that marked travel with the Azorean company for many decades : the offer of sweets to passengers traveling between islands", the company said in a statement.
According to the note, the offer of sweets to passengers was a gesture of sympathy "which had the purpose of relieving the pressure that was felt in the ears at certain stages of the flight and which is still part of the memories that inter-island travelers preserve ".
SATA's commercial flights began on June 15, 1947, "before the emotional gaze of more than three hundred guests who attended the inauguration ceremony held at the Santana airfield, the only aerodrome on the Island of São Miguel ".
"With pomp and circumstance, the start of the air operation was marked, which aimed to explore air traffic for passengers, cargo and mail, between the islands of São Miguel, Santa Maria and Terceira, given that, at the time, the other islands of the archipelago do not have an airport", he recalls.
The company added that the objective of its foundation "gained dimension over the years and Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos, Lda. then gave way to the SATA Air Açores that we know today, which connects the nine islands of the archipelago to each other, carries out almost 19 thousand flights per year, transports more than nine hundred thousand passengers per year" and which was distinguished in 2024 as "Europe's Leading Regional Airlines" by the World Travel Awards (WTW).
"In addition to SATA Air Açores, Azores Airlines is also part of the same story, which added ambition to the mission of combating island isolation and achieved the objective of making the Azores archipelago more accessible, something it achieves through a domestic air operation and international, which shortens the distance that separates the relevant Azorean community residing in North America from their homeland", he added.
The Azorean airline also offers direct flights between Europe and the Azores, "which adds up to around 9,700 flights per year and more than one million and four hundred thousand passengers transported".
Azores Airlines was distinguished this year as "Europe's Leading Airline to North America" by the World Travel Award, "due to the consistent investment it has been making in that market".
In 2023, the SATA Group airlines together transported around two million and four hundred thousand passengers from various destinations in North America, the archipelagos of Madeira and Cape Verde, the Portuguese continent and the European continent.
SATA Azores Airlines made a loss of 25.6 million euros in the first quarter of this year, compared to negative 22.7 million in the same period last year, while SATA Air Açores improved its losses to 4.7 million euros.
On May 2, the Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) canceled the privatization tender for the airline Azores Airlines, announcing its intention to launch a new procedure.
The executive claimed that the company was valued at six million euros at the beginning of the process and is now worth 20 million.
In June 2022, the European Commission approved Portuguese state aid to support the airline's restructuring of 453.25 million euros in loans and state guarantees, providing for measures such as a reorganization of the structure and the divestment of a controlling stake (51 %).
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