In 2025, the Azores Airlines fleet made significant improvements to its fuel consumption efficiency. Compared to 2024, operations recorded a 2.96% reduction in consumption per flight hour, equating to 67.6 kg less per block hour*. Over the entire year, this equates to savings of 2,276 tons of jet fuel, valued at approximately 1.82 million dollars (USD 800 per ton), equivalent to the fuel needed for around 380 flights between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada. This performance also prevented the emission of 7,192 tons of CO₂.
This result reflects the consistent application of operational practices aligned with international industry standards. These include optimizing flight planning, improving dispatch and operational control, making ground operations more efficient, improving flight operations, adopting procedures by technical teams throughout all phases of flight, and reducing ground and air delays wherever possible. It is a joint effort involving multiple teams and coordination between departments.
The airline is planning further actions to implement optimization procedures that will help it to meet its environmental goals, including reducing emissions per passenger (gCO₂/PKM) by 55% by 2030, using 2005 as the reference year.
Programs and certifications support this trajectory
To ensure a robust, aviation-specific environmental management system, the Group's airlines joined the IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) program. In 2023, Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores became the first Portuguese airlines to achieve this recognition.
This certification was renewed in 2025, expanding its scope to include maintenance and engineering, alongside the renewal of the IOSA (International Operational Safety Audit) registration. This attests to compliance with rigorous international operational safety standards, as well as demonstrating the maturity of internal processes.
The SATA Group is also part of the Alliance for Zero-Emission Aviation (AZEA) and participates in ICAO's CORSIA program and the EU ETS under the European Commission. The SATA Group also joined the Aviation Sustainability Alliance (ASA), an initiative framed within the National Aviation Decarbonization Roadmap (RONDA).
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*Block hour: total time between the start of aircraft movement to leave the parking position and its complete stop at the destination, including taxi-out, takeoff, flight, landing, and taxi-in