While presiding over the christening ceremony of the first Dash Q400 purchased by SATA on Tuesday morning – in which he travelled to Terceira on the inaugural flight – the President of the Government evoked two events to emphasise the importance of this ceremony in one of the most relevant events not only in the history of the air company, but also in the history of the Azores.

In fact, 63 year have passed since the first commercial flight operated by SATA – which nowadays “reinforces the path towards modernisation, continuing to overcome challenges by bringing the islands closer and strengthening the Azorean unity and dimension” – and it was precisely on March 2, 1895 that the order establishing the first autonomous movement was published, following the fight of a generation that, in the words of Carlos César, would be proud of moments such as this event.

“SATA likewise, other institutions such as the University or our TV Broadcaster continue to grow and qualify our identity as well as our self-administration skills,” stressed Carlos César.

Stressing that this role has been more relevant over the last years due to a series of steps taken by the company, thus increasingly becoming a tool with a high strategic value, the President of the Government said that “SATA should grow more by pursuing a responsible and demanding management that identifies it as a reference company in all aspects of its activity.”

For Carlos César, the SATA workers and its administrators, regardless the position they hold, know that, nowadays, the number of air companies with a jeopardised future is higher than the ones with an ensured future, thus they must never lose their professional mission in order to consolidate the continuity of their – also our – company.”

Hence, “the lack of attention, neglect or carelessness can be fatal as there is little tolerance towards the lack of responsibility,” added Carlos César.

The air company, which has a turnover of over 220 million Euros and transports more than 1.3 million passengers, is replacing all the inter-island fleet, thus investing more than 80 million Euros in Dash aircrafts, in the Q200 and Q400 versions.

For Carlos César, it is “an investment integrated in a concern of the regional public entities with the increasingly revitalisation of infrastructures as well as of the air transport sector.”

Hence, the President of the Government mentioned the improvements in the runways of S. Jorge, Pico, Graciosa and Corvo, which are estimated in over 31 million Euros. Given the amendments introduced in the Public Service Obligations concerning the inter-island transport, there will be reduction in the fare prices, between 15 and 19%, and in the inter-island cargo transport, between 5% and 8%.

Conveying a message to support the air transport sector in the Azores, Carlos César presided over to the christening of the Dash Q400, which was named after Manuel de Arriaga in a ceremony that was attended by Maria Isabel de Arriaga, a descendant of the first President of the Portuguese Republic.

This event, which is integrated in the regional programme to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic in Portugal, will also include the christening ceremony of another aircraft, to be named after Teófilo Braga. Therefore, for the President of the Government, we are paying a tribute “to our most distinguished Azores, who belonged to the generation that founded the First Republic.”