Azores Airlines privatization plan advances in Portugal
The privatization process of the Portuguese airline Azores Airlines would start in January, according to information published yesterday by The Herald News. The transfer of the Azores government’s 51% stake in Azores Airlines is provided for in the company’s membership plan, approved last June by the European Commission.
That month, the institution instituted state aid from Portugal in the amount of 453 million euros in loans and guarantees to support SATA’s corporate security, sponsored by the company. The process would be completed in early December. In that case, a public tender should start at the beginning of next year, according to what was announced earlier this week by the Government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
How informs the aviacionlineprivatization is contemplated in the annual budget. “I can announce that from January 1, 2023 we will start the public tender process for the sale of Azores Airlines”said Duarte Freitas, regional secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration.
The official stressed that the item no longer includes injections of funds of state origin in the company. In addition, he guaranteed that a financial company will be created in early December that will allow the separation of Azores Airlines, SATA’s subsidiary for long-haul flights, from SATA Air Açores, and thus advance in the privatization process.
Financial difficulties
Despite being born as a private company, SATA passed to the Azorean public administration in 1980. In the first instance, its ownership was shared by the regional government and TAP Air Portugal, the largest airline in the country.
In recent years, the company began to face financial difficulties and record debts, a situation that was aggravated by the impact of the pandemic on aeronautical activity. In this regard, Freitas referred that the funds allocated to SATA, and included in the 2021 and 2022 budgets, were intended to save the company from the “disaster it was led to in the past”.
However, I understood that the expenses cannot be repeated. Thus, the Government’s proposal consists of a regional legislative decree that authorizes the sale of the majority stake in Azores Airlines. The process will continue in the coming months.