The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport revealed in Horta that SATA's strategic development for the 2015-2020 period will be presented at the Legislative Assembly of the Azores until the end of the year.

"This plan aims to embody a strategy that is followed by parties involved, from shareholders to top managers and collaborators. In addition to the business plan, it will comprise the economic and financial sustainability plan, the fleet renewal process and the plan for development and qualification of human resources," said Vítor Fraga. The government official spoke during an interpellation made to the Government on Grupo SATA.

According to Vítor Fraga, the goal is to provide the Azores with an air company that mainly serves the interests of the Azorean population and those visiting the Region. Moreover, we also aim to ensure high standards of safety and service quality in several areas, such as the regularity of operations, reliability and punctuality.

"Basically, we have a company of reference that is capable of providing a response to mobility and accessibility needs in the Region, bringing added value and generating wealth," stressed the Regional Secretary.

Vítor Fraga added that one of the goals of the future plan is to seize the potentialities of the geostrategic position of the Azores by boosting all the development potential of trade between Europe and North America. In this context, the Region "would become a true trade gateway between both continents."
For the Regional Secretary, this is an opportunity that should be developed. According to him, it "will bring added value to the company and contribute to the economic development of the Region."

Another important guideline concerns the development of strategic partnerships with other companies by seizing existing synergies and promoting the increase of trade to ensure the sustainability of operations.

"On the other hand, the plan will not accept unfeasible operations and routes, which will not contribute to the increase of trade to the Region, either directly or indirectly," assured the Regional Secretary.

Furthermore, Vítor Fraga recalled that the changes in the air transport market and precarious situation of Portuguese economy in recent years have created numerous constraints to the air company.

Despite these issues, the Regional Secretary stressed that the intense investment in flight connections to North American in 2013 has led to an increase of about 11,600 passengers, representing a growth of 8%. The trend kept in the first semester of 2014 with an increase of 5,800 passengers, which corresponds to a growth of 10% over the same period of time last year.

There was also a growth of 2% in the flight connections to Portugal Mainland in the first semester of 2014, after the stagnation that was registered in 2013.

 "It should be also noted that the promotion of regular flights to the major European source markets with the aim increasing tourism flows to the Region has been consolidated, which clearly demonstrates that this measure is a consistent strategy.

In fact, there has been an increase of 7,273 passengers, corresponding to an increase over 23.13% compared to the previous year. In the first semester of 2014, there was a growth of 9% over the same period of 2013," stressed Vítor Fraga.