According to an order published in the Jornal Official, SATA Air Açores will avail a €20 million loan to support its liquidity, guaranteed by the Regional Government of the Azores,
The loan to SATA Air Açores comes at a time when the privatisation process of SATA Internacional is underway, and with the restructuring plan still underway.
In June 2022, the Azorean airline group approved Portuguese state aid to support restructuring in the amount of €453.25 million in loans and state guarantees.
Worth noting here, the two airlines of the Sata group, Azores Airlines and Sata Air Açores, closed 2024 with an accumulated loss of 82.8 million euros, more than double that of the previous year, according to data released by the company.
In a statement, Sata said that, last year, Sata Internacional – Azores Airlines recorded a negative net profit of 71.2 million euros, which compares with a loss of 26.08 million euros in 2023.
On the €20 million loan, the regional Secretariat for Finance, Planning and Public Administration approved the terms of the guarantee, enabling the airline to contract the loan. The operation, arranged with BPI bank, has a seven-year term with a two-year grace period and will carry an interest rate of six-month Euribor plus a 1% spread.
One of the conditions requires the Azorean Government to maintain its full, direct or indirect ownership in the company. The decision is based on a resolution passed in July 2025 authorising guarantees of up to €75 million for SATA Air Açores from banks and other financial institutions.
This move follows a wider restructuring process. In June 2022, the European Commission approved €453.25 million in Portuguese state aid for SATA, in loans and guarantees, to support a restructuring plan that included organisational reform and the divestment of a controlling 51% stake.
Negotiations are underway between the Regional Government and the Newtou/MS Aviation consortium for the privatisation of Azores Airlines, a process that the regional executive said it wants to complete by September. But about which there has been no news in recent months.
Despite ongoing restructuring efforts, the group continues to face heavy losses. SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines closed 2024 with a combined deficit of 82.8 million - more than double the €36 million reported in 2023.
The bulk of the losses came from Azores Airlines, which recorded a negative result of €71.2 million, compared with €26.1 million in 2023. SATA Air Açores, which operates inter-island flights, reported a €11.6 million loss, up from €10 million the previous year.
In terms of passengers carried, the SATA group carried a record total of 2.7 million in 2024, 14% more than in the previous year. In addition to the 10% increase in available capacity, the group highlights the increase in the average load factor by 2.6 percentage points, to 81.7%.
Meanwhile, the workers' committee and the unions representing the airline SATA Air Açores have asked for an "urgent" meeting with the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) to clarify "strategic decisions" that affect the operation and sustainability of the company.
