The Azorean airline group announced today that it has implemented a contingency plan involving passenger alerts, options for flight changes without penalties or additional costs, and the preemptive cancellation of certain routes.
Specifically, for SATA Air Açores, which operates between the nine islands of the archipelago, flight SP408 from Ponta Delgada to the island of Terceira is canceled today, and “all operations scheduled for September 26 will be suspended until 2 PM, while the remaining operations will continue,” the company stated.
Regarding Azores Airlines, which manages flights to and from the archipelago, today’s flight S4882 from Ponta Delgada to Praia, Cape Verde, is also canceled.
On Friday, the company plans to maintain its operations with the exception of flights S4151/S4150 Lisbon-Horta-Lisbon, S4182/S4183 Terceira-Porto-Terceira, and S4121/S4120 Lisbon-Ponta Delgada-Lisbon.
Flight S4131 between Lisbon and Terceira is scheduled to depart at 1:40 PM, SATA added, cautioning that other flights may experience delays depending on the evolving weather conditions in the Azores.
Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to pass over the Azores as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (1 to 5, with 5 being the most severe), leading to worsening weather conditions from later today.
In the Central Group (Pico, Faial, Graciosa, Terceira, and São Jorge), “heavy rainfall, winds with gusts of around 200 km/h from the south, turning to the northwest, and maritime agitation with significant wave heights between eight and 10 meters, with maximum waves possibly reaching 14 to 18 meters” are anticipated.
The Western Group (Flores and Corvo) will also experience heavy rainfall and gusts up to 130 km/h, with similar wave activity to the Central Group.
These two groups are under multiple red warnings from the IPMA—a three-level warning scale’s highest level—between late today and Friday morning.
In the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria (Eastern Group), “intermittent heavy rain,” gusts between 100 to 120 km/h, and waves up to nine meters in significant height are expected.
The Regional Government has already declared an alert status, effective from 6 PM today to 6 PM Friday, for the Central and Western Groups, prohibiting specific activities due to the cyclone’s approach.
