UK to Azores

From next Saturday (7 April), SATA International will resume direct flights from the UK to the Azores.  The service operates weekly until 27 October, with early afternoon departures from Gatwick to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel, the largest of the Azorean Islands.  SATA is an independent airline based in the capital Sao Miguel, established in 1990 and operating eight Airbus A320 series aircraft.  Flight time is just under four hours.  SATA offers up to four daily non-stop flights to the islands from Lisbon. 

Located in the middle of the Atlantic nearly one thousand west of Lisbon.  The nine islands of the Azores are Europe’s most westerly point.  They are connected to each other by air and have a total population of just under a quarter million.  

In 1943, during World War II, Portuguese dictator Salazar leased bases in the Azores to the British, despite his previous collaboration with Germany.  The occupation of these facilities in October 1943 was codenamed Operation Alacrity by the Allies.  This was a key turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic, allowing the Allies to provide aerial coverage in the mid-Atlantic gap; helping them to hunt U-boats and protect convoys. www.sata.pt

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