The Sata group has announced that Sata Internacional – Azores Airlines recorded a net loss of 71.2 million euros last year, compared to a loss of 26.08 million euros in 2023.
Sata Air Açores reported a net loss of 11.6 million euros in 2024, against a 9.97 million euro loss in the previous year.
The combined loss for both companies amounted to 82.8 million euros last year, more than double the 36 million euros reported in 2023.
Sata noted that last year Azores Airlines saw a revenue increase to 336 million euros (up 50.2 million euros from 2023), although results were affected by rising operational and non-operational costs, which had “direct impacts on EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] and net results.”
“The accounts also reflected extraordinary factors, some of which will not recur in 2025,” the statement added.
These included “additional charges due to adverse weather impacts on operations and the inability of the airport and hotel infrastructure to cope with increased activity,” as well as “personnel expenses due to previously committed agreements under new company contracts.”
It also highlighted “maintenance and provisions costs due to the unfavorable outcome of the legal process between Azores Airlines and Hifly related to contractual charges with an A330 aircraft, known as ‘Cachalote,’ whose accumulated impacts amount to over 30 million euros.”
As a result, EBITDA was negative by 691,000 euros in 2024, but would have been positive if some of the non-recurring extraordinary factors were adjusted, particularly the Hifly process, with a financial impact of 6.4 million euros, the group emphasized.
“In summary, in 2024, there was a set of operational and non-operational events, many extraordinary, that had a total negative impact of around 53 million euros on the net result for 2024,” it concluded.
Regarding Sata Air Açores, a “substantial reduction in financial results (down six million euros)” was highlighted, resulting from the early repayment of a 60 million euro bank loan in September 2023.
Despite increased revenue, it was not enough to cover rising operational costs, leading the company’s EBITDA to drop from 11.4 million euros in 2023 to 4.6 million euros in 2024.
In terms of passenger transport, the SATA group carried a record total of 2.7 million passengers in 2024, 14% more than the previous year.
In addition to a 10% increase in available capacity, the group noted an increase in the average load factor by 2.6 percentage points, to 81.7%.
Sata Gestão de Aeródromos reported losses of 244,000 euros in 2024, reflecting “a variation of 572,000 euros compared to the previous year, as a result of deterioration in EBITDA and increased restructuring costs due to a pre-retirement agreement.”
With the aim of improving the group’s “financial and economic performance,” “with particular focus on Azores Airlines,” the Sata Board of Directors states it is implementing the Financial Sustainability Plan developed by the group’s management teams.
This plan includes 41 short, medium, and long-term measures, “most already in execution,” aiming to generate a financial impact of 65 million euros through increased revenue and operational efficiency and the restructuring of support services.
“We believe that 2024 was, for various reasons, a year of inflection and that 2025 will be a turning point. The improved results obtained in the early months of 2025 indicate we are on the right track,” said the CEO of the Sata group, Rui Coutinho, in the statement.
