SATA Group signs an interline agreement with the North American company Virgin for destinations on the west coast of the United States, an area where a large Azorean community lives.

The agreement between SATA International and Virgin allows the Azorean airline to sell tickets for flights operated by this North American company in the west coast of the United States, namely to destinations such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Palm Springs and Portland, and Virgin America may in turn sell the destinations operated by SATA.

All connections are made through Boston, the city from which SATA operates its trips to the Azores and Lisbon, with rates corresponding to the entire journey, i.e. from the beginning of the journey to the final destination.

The west coast of the United States thus becomes closer to the Azores and Portugal, bringing greater ease and more mobility to the large Azorean community of the state of California, with better prices and a more convenient service, with the possibility of passengers and baggage being shipped to their final destination, without forgetting the safety liability on connections in the city of Boston.

The signing of this agreement with Virgin America, which adds to a number of other agreements already signed with other companies, is a further act towards the consolidation of SATA Group’s strategy, which aims at increasing connectivity with the outside world, betting mainly on the North American markets, through the creation of more and better connections with the Azores and Portugal and vice versa.

António Gomes de Menezes, President of the SATA Group, emphasizes: “by adding this agreement to its activity, SATA takes another important step in increasing its ability to provide a greater offer to its customers, particularly the Migrant Community in California”.

According to António Menezes, “the increased awareness of SATA in the international market, through the signing of these strategic partnerships with reference companies that operate in important source markets as is the case of the United States, leads SATA’s activity to levels of excellence in the consolidation of a better connectivity and more competitive pricing conditions for the development of tourism in the Azores”.

For SATA’s President, “the agreement now established with Virgin America will facilitate travel between the west coast of the United States, Portugal and the Azores, providing the migrant community with a better service and a more advantageous price for those who wish to visit the Azores, further strengthening the role of SATA as an Azorean company that, through its capacity of exporting services, is strongly committed to developing the economy of the Azores in general and, more particularly, the excellence of tourism in the Azores”.

Since its launch five years ago, Virgin America became one of the few North American airlines to improve its results; with a fleet of 52 aircrafts, it employs 2600 people and operates 18 destinations in the U.S.