SATA airlines have already transported one million passengers this year, up 34% year-on-year, the carrier revealed today, expecting to reach a “new record” in 2023.
“SATA group airlines once again surpass themselves, by reaching the symbolic mark of one million passengers carried in 2023, about two months earlier than in 2022 and ahead of this year’s deadline,” the group adds in a press release.
According to SATA, the “evolution represents a growth of 34% compared to the same period” of 2022, and a “new record” in the number of passengers carried is “expected” by the end of the year.
“It is expected that the IATA summer of 2023 will once again confirm the attraction for the routes served by SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines, namely in the Azores archipelago which is the natural destination of the two airlines of the SATA group, and a new record of passengers carried is expected to be achieved,” reads the statement.
The SATA Group comprises Azores Airlines, which operates to and from the Azores, and SATA Air Açores, responsible for inter-island connections.
By July 31, 2022, the Azorean group airlines had already reached one million passengers carried in that year, ten weeks earlier than in 2021 and days earlier than in 2019.
Today, the Azorean aviation group emphasizes that the companies had already shown an “extraordinary recovery” in 2022, evoking data from the International Civil Aviation Organization that places SATA, “in terms of passengers carried, far above Europe and the rest of the world,” as a 14.5% variation from 2022 to 2019 (covid-19 pre-pandemic year).
According to SATA, the results stemmed from the expansion of agreements with airline partners, the increased availability of online offers through presence in global travel search engines, and promotional activities developed throughout the year with tour operators and travel agents.
In March, the tender for the privatization of Azores Airlines was opened, with a 90-day period for the submission of proposals (until June 20), a period that was, in May, extended until July 31, following “informal and formal requests” from possible interested parties, according to the Regional Government.
