Looking at visiting the azores but wonder about the rep of the airlines that goes there. Any comments from those that have recently flown azores air?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6813 posts
Given the relative obscurity of Azores Airlines, you probably won't get a lot of people here with recent, first-hand reports to share. You might do better over on Flyertalk.
That said, every airline has passengers reporting both good and bad experiences. Mostly you will see "never again!" rants online. I always have to scratch my head when someone posts such a broad question about airlines...What exactly are your specific concerns?
From a practical standpoint, honestly, how many different airline options do you really have to choose from for flights to the Azores?
Posted by
Rhode Island, USA
485 posts
Hi JS,
Azores Air used to be called SATA Internacional. They changed it to sound more worldly. The name “SATA” is still used for the inter-island flights.
I have been flying with them for over 20 years, for all of my Azores visits. In a nutshell, 95-100% of the passengers are visiting family in the Azores. The airline is subsidized by the regional government. For these two reasons, they do not strive to provide “above-board” service. The crews try their best, but we have always had issues relating to management and their confusing decision making. The food is good, entertaiment is poor, “Business Class” is a joke, but they get us to the Azores and back. They are using brand new airplanes this year, so maybe things will improve.
Sometimes the airline has way too many delays or cancellations. Some of my family who were just here (I am in Santa Maria, Azores right now) were delayed by two days. 2 years ago was a nightmare for summer flights. Last year was OK. This year is pretty good...considering.
I flew for this trip on Delta Airlines for the first time (Boston-JFK-PDL) and so far have nothing negative to say. The price was considerably less than Azores Airlines, but who knows what the prices will be next year. These flights will be seasonal from late May to early September.
Your third option is to fly on TAP, connecting in Lisbon, then continuing to Ponta Delgada or occasional flights to other islands. TAP is definitely a couple of tiers higher than Azores Airlines, but comparable to Delta. They use an Airbus-330 from the United States vs Delta Boeing 757. Azores Air is using Airbus-321 NEO.
Let me know if you have any other questions about the Azores.
Carl