The European Region Airline Association (ERA) awarded the bronze “2011/2012 Airline of the Year” distinction to SATA Air Azores.
In a statement to the press, SATA Air Azores announced that the award was in recognition for its renewal of its ATP and Dornier fleet with a Bombardier fleet. “This is the ERA’s acknowledgement to the public, together with 65 regional airlines that belong to the association, of the exemplary work of SATA Air Açores’ employees in the fleet renewal process, and, above all, of the significant and tangible benefits for the more than 400,000 customers who fly SATA Air Azores each year,” the statement said.
The “Airline of the Year 2011/2012 Gold” award went to the Air Nostrum (Spain) and the “Airline of the Year 2011/2012 Silver” award to Widerøe (Norway).
Based in the Azores, SATA Group ( António Gomes de Menezes, President), is comprised of five companies involved in transport, tourism promotion and airfield management. With sixty years of experience, SATA Air Azores became a signatory of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) charters in 1980 when it became a public company.
The Grupo SATA fleet is divided between two air transport companies. SATA Air Azores flies four 80-seat Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft and two 37-seat Bombardier Q200 aircraft, while SATA Internacional flies four 222-seat A310-300 aircraft and four 165-seat A320-200 aircraft, operating flights to the mainland and islands, Europe, the United States and Canada, with a combined network of flights including more than 60 destinations.
SATA International has been connecting New England with the islands of the Azores year-round in the past two-decades. SATA International also operates longer-haul services to a number destinations in Canada and Europe. SATA International is the only commercial airline operating between the United States and the Azores.
The ERA Airline of the Year Award recognizes excellence and achievement by three ERA airline members – GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE. It encourages the highest standards across the intra-European air transport industry. Since it was introduced in 1991, the ERA Airline of the Year award has become one of the aviation industry’s best-known distinctions. Its goal is to recognize extraordinary achievements by ERA member airlines in the past 12 months. In 2000, the award was extended to include Gold, Silver and Bronze categories.
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