SATA's very high fares

In recent days, a reader alerted us to SATA's high fares on the Boston - Ponta Delgada - Lajes - Lisbon route, especially in the so-called “high season” of summer, which comprises the months of July and August.

First of all, we would like to emphasize that it is not our intention, far from it, to censor lightly and without basic knowledge (much less to boycott) an airline that has served the Azoreans of the diaspora over the years, playing a preponderant role in this connection to the land. origin of thousands of foreigners who see this company as the gateway to the Azores and, with few exceptions, it has reasonably played this role.

It is fair to recognize that, regardless of the financial problems, and of another kind, that it has faced, as a result of the bad decisions of previous administrations, the truth is that in the last two years, mainly since the renewal of its fleet (with the acquisition of five new Airbus A321-NEO LR aircraft), the Azorean air carrier in its operations to North America (Toronto, Boston and now New York) has visibly improved, namely in terms of services on the ground and on board and in a very important for any passenger: punctuality. Things, as they say in the slang, “sharpened and fell into place”, particularly in these three destinations. Let's hope they continue like this, as a way of "cleaning up" the bad image of the recent past. It is not an exaggeration on our part to say that traveling to the Azores, at certain times, was almost like an adventure, such was the total debacle verified.

However, the intention of this note is to draw attention to the Board of Directors and, why not, to the Regional Government of the Azores, which is still SATA's largest shareholder, to do something about this matter, of the very high tariffs currently practiced, especially in the operation to Boston.

In the specific case for the month of July of this year, and on certain dates in August, the tariff announced even before the winter of 2022 was around $850 per person round trip to Lajes, Ponta Delgada or Lisbon, registering an increase of around $300 earlier this year. This week we were surprised by this rate of $2,367 (July 12th to 19th), which meanwhile, last Monday morning was increased again to $2,731 for Lajes, Terceira and $2,725 for Ponta Delgada, per passenger and economy rate. We are always attentive to this issue of prices for our “holy homeland” applied by SATA and TAP and we have never seen anything like it. So brutally. This is nonsense and, come on, a lack of consideration for Azoreans living in New England, whose only direct connection option is our SATA. We know that the operation to Boston is the one that handles the most passengers and therefore the most profitable (according to sources connected to the company) and it is even understood that, due to the fact that it is the most popular, prices are slightly higher at certain times. It works like that with all airlines, but a 200 percent increase in the space of two months is unthinkable and nonsense.

When so much has been said lately about bringing the Azores closer to its diaspora, about the importance and relevance of Azoreans in North America in the region's economic, social and political life, about attracting and motivating Azorean descendants to visit the land of their parents and grandparents and even creating entities and institutions that reinforce this connection, this has to start from ideas to practice. We may start with a different approach and policy in applying SATA prices for North America and Boston in particular.

My friends, those who contribute most to the economy of the Azores continue to be the immigrants who come from New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, East Providence, Bristol, Pawtucket, Toronto, Mississauga and other locations. Let's take that into account.

It's like my friend José Cabral says, “I'm looking forward to visiting my beloved land, but when I see the high prices charged by SATA and TAP, I miss it right away, I stay at home and watch Portugal on television”.