On Thursday, the President of the Government assured that all the conditions are being created for Grupo SATA to reinforce its capacity to serve the Azores, the Azoreans and the regional economy, through measures already implemented at financial, operational and organisational level.
 
"There is an administration committed to improving the company, a fleet renewal with the most modern aircraft on the market is in progress, measures have been implemented to strengthen the Group's financial stability, the company is reorganising itself and a strategic partner is needed to improve the company's operations, "said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government spoke at the Committee of Inquiry on the Regional Business Public Business Sector and Non-Profit Associations, where he was heard, at his request, at the Ponta Delgada Section of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
 
In view of these stability and future prospects for SATA, Vasco Cordeiro called for the possibility of establishing an environment conducive to the implementation of these measures with the intends intended by all parties involved.
 
In his speech, the President of the Government stated that the future of this company is "strategic for the mobility of the Azoreans as well as for the economic and social development of the Azores," thus involving several levels of action that are already being implemented.
 
"Regarding the former, it is publicly known that Grupo SATA has closed a bond issue in international markets through Deutsche Bank, a 65 million-Euro operation for a ten-year period, on very favourable terms, which is crucial to strengthen the company in coming years," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
In addition to this financial measure, the President of the Government stressed that SATA is currently renewing the Azores Airlines fleet with the new A321 NEO aircraft. This process is already contributing to a substantial reduction in operating costs, while reinforcing the reliability and stability of operations.
 
"Additionally, the very reform of the company's organisational structure is being undertaken with the aim of enhancing efficiency and productivity," said the President of the Government to the members of the Committee. On the occasion, he noted that the fourth component concerns the need to consolidate the Group's airline company by including a strategic partner in its share capital.
 
"Besides financial matters, this is also crucial in securing the technical, operational and management capacity of Azores Airlines," said the President of the Government.
 
After emphasising that the Region undertook several efforts to reduce the Grupo SATA's debts in 2017 and 2018, Vasco Cordeiro assured that 158 million Euros have been transferred over the last four years from Public Service Obligations and aerodromes concessions, investments in aerodromes and capital increases already carried out.
 
Before the members of the Committee, the President of the Government recalled, on the other hand, the significant changes in the routes to the Azores from 2015 onwards. This led SATA to operate in an open market with strong competition from TAP and low-cost airlines operating at large-scale with overly aggressive business strategies.
 
"However, this significant change in markets demonstrated, contrary to what many predicted, the response capacity of SATA Internacional and its strength to overcome this new challenge, as the number of flights grew from 17,500 to more than 22 thousand between 2015 and 2017. In addition, the number of passengers grew from 1.3 to 1.7 million in this period, while flight revenue rose from 134 to 169 million Euros," said the government official.
 
According to him, these significant growths in the company's operating activity, especially in recent years, are the result of a strategy defined to respond to the new challenges that SATA Internacional has faced over time.
 
This strategy was envisaged in the Strategic Plan for the 2015-2020 period. Nevertheless, it "requires constant monitoring and the introduction of changes deemed necessary or appropriate to respond to an ever changing reality," said the President of the Government.
 
However, the strategic goals remain, namely for the markets that the Group intends to reach: links between the Azores, Mainland Portugal and North America (as well as Macaronesia), the promotion of the Azores Hub (channelling air traffic to the Azores) and the reduction of fixed and organisational costs.
 
In his speech, the President of the Government also emphasised that, when SATA's behaviour over the years is under analysis, one must take into account the circumstances in which SATA Internacional had to operate, becoming a tool at the service of the regional economy.
 
"In this regard, SATA, as a publicly-owned company in the pursuit of its mission, played a decisive role in responding to negative impacts on Tourism due to the international crisis that hit our main markets," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
"With SATA's operations for Europe between 2009 and 2014, more than 50 million Euros were spent on tourism companies in the Azores, thereby helping to maintain employment in the Region, when this sector was hit by the worldwide recession," recalled the President of the Government.
 
"Therefore, I have no doubt to say that it was SATA that made the difference," the President of the Government assured, adding that SATA would reorient its focus as a result of the changes to the accessibility model for the Region in 2015. It began its recovery process, which was continued in 2016, a year marked by social peace and an overall evolution in the Groups' operating results.
 
"In 2017, we faced an atypical year for a series of reasons that are worth remembering here because of the impact they had on the Grupo SATA's accounts. In the case of fuel, as we all know, it is not directly ascribed to company's management and the costs increased about 14 million Euros (+40%) from 2016 to 2017," stressed the President of the Government.
 
According to him, there were also incidents with SATA International aircraft that resulted in additional costs amounting to more than 1.1 million Euros.
 
Simultaneously, there were six strikes in 2017 that, naturally, had their impact on the operational activity and, consequently, on the company's results by almost two million Euros.
 
"For those who consciously or unconsciously feed into themselves or into others the illusion that SATA could be shielded from everything or that things are going well in civil aviation and that only SATA faces challenges, it is important to remind that more than 260 airlines around the world closed down in 2017," concluded Vasco Cordeiro.