Regional Government and SATA work on a daily basis "towards stabilisation of the company," ensures Ana Cunha
The Regional Secretary for Transport and Public Works stated today at the Legislative Assembly in Horta that the Regional Government has made the commitment to “provide SATA Group with the necessary tools to fulfil its corporate purpose of better serving the Azoreans." According to her, "this has been one of the great challenges of this legislative term."
Ana Cunha assured that the Regional Government and SATA work on a daily basis “towards the stabilisation of the company and its operation in the face of adversities arising from various situations."
In these efforts, Ana Cunha stressed that “SATA relies on one of most important assets: its employees. They work every day on land and on air with commitment and dedication to give their best for the benefit of our airline." In this regard, she added that "what really matters is that SATA continues to fly for the Azoreans."
In her speech delivered at the plenary session, the Secretary for Transport revealed that from January to August this year, SATA Air Açores performed 376 more flights than in the same period of last year. Moreover, SATA Air Açores provided 132,340 more seats and more than 28,900 were used, adding that, as for SATA Internacional, 12 more flights were performed in the same period.
“Let us not belittle SATA. Let us not be indifferent to its service for the benefit of the Region. Let us not disregard or be indifferent to the constraints that affect the accessibility of all Azoreans,” urged the Regional Secretary.
“We are particularly concerned about the difficulties experienced by Azorean residents when leaving their islands, whether on inter-island flights or connecting flights to Mainland Portugal. Sometimes, the offer provided by five gateways and the operations of several airlines seems insufficient. These issues are our concern and they should guide our action," stated Ana Cunha.
The Regional Secretary recalled that air transport "has undergone a revolution in recent years with its own specificities in the Azores as well as with unprecedented growth in demand and the emergence of a new reality of traffic flows.”
“Besides structuring investments made by the Regional Government in airport infrastructures, our airline is forced to adapt to this reality. In fact, this is the challenge and this is the vision we have for SATA Group with all the peculiarities that make this company unique in today's world: a small, regional company with a reduced fleet with an extreme dependence on external services, but with the best clients in the world, the Azoreans," stated the government official.
In keeping with this new reality, Ana Cunha stressed “the importance of commencing the revision of public service obligations for inter-island transport as far as they underpin the contract for the provision of regular passenger transport services in the Region and will remain in force until October next year. This process is intended to enhance flight capacity and availability to the Azoreans residing on all islands."
Ana Cunha stated that it is important to take into account the fact that "SATA Air Açores has six aircraft and SATA Internacional (Azores Airlines) has another six aircraft," noting that "in August each year there are about five times more passengers carried than in January."