Azores Airlines Restructures North American Network

SATA Azores Airlines is making changes to its North American network for the upcoming summer season, dropping several routes introduced in 2024.

Nonstop flights from Funchal, Madeira, to Boston Logan International Airport, New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport will not return this summer. Similarly, three routes from Porto Airport to the same destinations are also not scheduled to resume.

The airline introduced five of the six routes during the summer of 2024, with the Funchal-New York service launching in November 2021. The Porto flights marked Azores Airlines’ return to transatlantic operations from mainland Portugal, following the suspension of Lisbon-Boston and Lisbon-Toronto routes in October 2017.

Despite the discontinuation of nonstop services, the airline plans to maintain one-stop flights from Funchal to New York and Toronto via Ponta Delgada, according to data from OAG Schedules Analyser. The carrier also intends to offer one-stop connections from Porto to Boston and New York through Ponta Delgada.

Other network changes this summer include the suspension of flights from Ponta Delgada Airport (PDL) to Bermuda and London Gatwick Airport. Terceira-Oakland is also not scheduled to resume. However, frequencies from PDL to Faro will rise from 3X to 4X-weekly, while both Frankfurt and Milan Malpensa will increase from 2X to 3X-weeky.

In its financial results for the nine months to Sept. 30, 2024, Azores Airlines said the nonstop U.S. and Canada services from Funchal and Porto—mostly operated as part of an ACMI agreement—were “unsuitable commercial options, mainly due to the increased costs involved.”

“The latter effect was particularly noticeable in the third quarter of 2024, as the ACMI operation took place between June and September, which was not the case in 2023,” the company said.

Azores Airlines reported an average load factor of 85.7% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2023. The decline was attributed to increased capacity from the use of larger aircraft, including ACMI operations involving “oversized aircraft,” which negatively impacted load factor. Operating costs also increased by €28.6 million ($29.3 million) in Q3, up by 31% year-on-year.

The airline said that going forward, its operational plan would focus on its “core routes,” linking the Azores with Portugal and strong inbound tourist destinations such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain.