Azores is a cool little airline and with their neo they are set to go transatlantic. A bit like a southern Icelandair. So they might become more similar. Why not?

according to flygtorget.se in swedish (but google translate can help)

http://www.flygtorget.se/Aktuellt/Artikel/?Id=12626

any thoughts?

Noshow wrote:

Azores is a cool little airline and with their neo they are set to go transatlantic. A bit like a southern Icelandair. So they might become more similar. Why not?

They already go transatlantic:
YYZ, BOS, OAK, PVD, YUL
They do rely a lot on VFR traffic, but a well run airline like Icelandair would help them expand more and return the business back to profit.

Or you could have just shared a source in English:

Loftleidir Icelandic emerged as the only qualified potential buyer for a 49% stake in Azores Airlines, following an EOI issued by the Portuguese carrier's parent, Grupo SATA. Loftleidir is a subsidiary of Icelandair Group.

Loftleidir has only been pre-qualified company as this time, i.e., it has the financial capacity and managerial experience to participate in the sale.

The are still three more phases for the Icelandic carrier to complete before the sale is final. The second stage of submission of binding proposals, and third stage is the evaluation and negotiation of those proposals.

A final decision will be issued thereafter.

Azores Airlines is saddled with debts of approx. US$250 million.

http://newsroom.aviator.aero/icelandair ... -airlines/

It's natural. Azores Airlines has an A330 with a giant marine-dwelling creature painted on the side...

I know the way out...

KEF-PDL would be an interesting route, flying North-South in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

related topic from 2y ago: viewtopic.php?t=1348681

FI and WOW already fly KEF - Canary Islands that's over 5 hrs north/south over the Atlantic.

This would be an interesting tie up, and could be set to look kind of like a Southern version of KEF in the long run. Right now FI are closer to TACV (Cape Verde) than Azores airlines by providing aircraft and support. So the thoughts are leaning in that direction for a purchase. The other thing to consider for a build up in either case is the potential infrastructure. FI market Iceland very well as it is a destination place not just a connecting point. The Azores and Cape Verde not so much and does not have as good airport and local infrastructure to support what FI might want to do with that route structure.

FI do need to be thinking out of the box as KEF is getting more packed by the day and this might be a logical solution to expand, but work would need to be done on a number of levels, in order to make it work.
This is where tagging on this site would be useful as there are some folks who know a lot more about Azores than me.

KLDC10 wrote:

It's natural. Azores Airlines has an A330 with a giant marine-dwelling creature painted on the side...

Surely there must be some 757s involved in the transaction!

It's all about the fish, after all.

Hopefully they will make improvements to Azores Airlines. Their long-haul is plagued with delays and technical issues, just read some reviews. Flew them last year YYZ to the Canaries, delayed 3 days in Ponta Delgada PDL going and 12 hours on the return. Their sole A330 went tech both ways, on the return we had to wait for a rescue HiFly A330 to get us from PDL back to YYZ. Service in PDL best described as chaotic and non-existent, still waiting for my $1000 EU compensation. Never ever again!

This is interesting because they are already in charge of TACV with a plan to setup a TATL hub in Cape Verde.
https://www.icelandairgroup.is/investor ... cabo-verde
The 3 airlines would become a serious TATL player.

Cape Verde hub could be quite nice for different directions: between Africa and North America and also between Europe and South America as the two main connectors, then also a little bit Africa to Europe also; just a few north-south KEF-RAI to make interesting also then.
With Azores in between they can supplement also with some, however there could be a better O&D market

Revelation wrote:

KLDC10 wrote:

It's natural. Azores Airlines has an A330 with a giant marine-dwelling creature painted on the side...

Surely there must be some 757s involved in the transaction!

It's all about the fish, after all.

Must be! As we all know, the 757 is the only aircraft capable of carrying such a precious cargo

But seriously, Icelandair has the expertise to make an airline like Azores Airlines work. If Icelandair's purchase of 49% of the airline's stock goes through as planned, then it would be a little reminiscent (though obviously on a smaller scale) of the Delta/VS arrangement. I wouldn't be surprised to see Icelandair increase their shares as Delta has done in VS should the deal prove to be a success.

SCQ83 wrote:

KEF-PDL would be an interesting route, flying North-South in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Does that market even exist? It would be nice to commit to flying on time. I am not sure how well they connect North America to PDL and LIS. I flew with them once with no issues. Amazing A310 ride with a ground speed of 1050 Km/h with tail winds in favour (so the in-flight screen said). Managed to go from YYZ to LIS in 6:15 hours. We were cramped like sardines but so seems to be the standard.

I admire Icelandair as it seems to connect North America well to Europe on a fleet of 757s. I am considering them for YVR - LIS next year with a stopover to visit the island for 3 days.

Personally I think Cabo Verde is the place to for an EU / South America hub ..... I think Azores is too far north , you might as well hub in Gran Canaria

KLDC10 wrote:

But seriously, Icelandair has the expertise to make an airline like Azores Airlines work. If Icelandair's purchase of 49% of the airline's stock goes through as planned, then it would be a little reminiscent (though obviously on a smaller scale) of the Delta/VS arrangement.

This is nothing like the DL/VS deal. VS is a provate carrier. S4 is not. The big challenge here is that Azores Airlines is a government owned airline that has always operated as a type of public service for the Azorean diaspora, without the need to be profitable, and with unrealistic employee/union contracts and old habits. It will be a huge challenge to change its collective mentality into a lean and profitable airline. I'll give you an example: For years and to this day they operate primarily to BOS when the bulk of their market is in PDL. They do that because their crew does not want to fly into PDL because Providence doesn't carry the same status as Boston.

Galwayman wrote:

Personally I think Cabo Verde is the place to for an EU / South America hub ..... I think Azores is too far north , you might as well hub in Gran Canaria

I'm not sure that they're looking to use PDL as a hub. For starters I don't think that PDL has the infrastructure to handle more than 3 aircraft at the same time and it doesn't even have a transit area. Currently they use the departure area's cafe as the transit area. They shove everyone into the cafe and close all doors LOL
PDL could be strategic for them because it does have strong O&D from certain markets, mainly the U.S., Canada, Portugal, and Venezuela if that ever recovers. It's also becoming popular with other Europeans.

airbazar wrote:

This is nothing like the DL/VS deal. VS is a provate carrier. S4 is not. The big challenge here is that Azores Airlines is a government owned airline that has always operated as a type of public service for the Azorean diaspora, without the need to be profitable, and with unrealistic employee/union contracts and old habits. It will be a huge challenge to change its collective mentality into a lean and profitable airline. I'll give you an example: For years and to this day they operate primarily to BOS when the bulk of their market is in PDL. They do that because their crew does not want to fly into PDL because Providence doesn't carry the same status as Boston

It's an acknowledgment, tacit or otherwise, that the government does not have the expertise to profitably run the airline. Icelandair does. While the exact nature of the deals may differ in details, both involve a successful, established, profitable carrier taking a stake in a struggling carrier in order to turn around the fortunes thereof. In the case of Azores Airlines, it's also a big step towards the privatization of the airline. That doesn't mean that the government can't retain a stake and thereby appear to their electorate to be "defending the national interest" - take as an example the fact that the French State still owns around 17% of Air France stock.

Of course, one could also make the argument that the government is ready to turnover day to day control of the airline to Icelandair in much the same way Virgin did to Delta. They're not willing to make the painful changes themselves, as you already pointed out, so they're happy for a private company to come in and make changes. If it succeeds, then great. If it fails, then the government has somewhere else to place the blame. Still, the management team at Icelandair is smart and have built a very successful and unique operation (which WOW Air has since tried to emulate). They will know exactly what they're taking on and will have set their expectations accordingly.

Azores Airlines has a seasonal flight to Providence, Rhode Island, but it is one of only three destinations in the United States, including Boston, Massachusetts and Oakland, California. In fact, 12 out of their 20 destinations are in Portugal, which is a little ridiculous for an international airline. It essentially connects one country through twelve airports to only eight destinations. If they wish to be more successful, they need to think beyond that because at the moment it isn't so much an international airline as it is a Portuguese leisure airline. Icelandair brings the necessary expertise to the table.

Will someone please think of the Fish.

I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm saying it's going to be a huge challenge.

KLDC10 wrote:

It's an acknowledgment, tacit or otherwise, that the government does not have the expertise to profitably run the airline.

Nope. It's the fact the EU law forbids the government from continuing to subsidize the airline and if they want to continue to have an airline they need to find someone who's willing to put money in.

KLDC10 wrote:

Azores Airlines has a seasonal flight to Providence, Rhode Island, but it is one of only three destinations in the United States, including Boston, Massachusetts and Oakland, California. In fact, 12 out of their 20 destinations are in Portugal, which is a little ridiculous for an international airline. It essentially connects one country through twelve airports to only eight destinations. If they wish to be more successful, they need to think beyond that because at the moment it isn't so much an international airline as it is a Portuguese leisure airline. Icelandair brings the necessary expertise to the table.

Actually 13 are in Portugal. I'm not sure you realize that the Azores are an archipelago of 9 main islands. Consequently 9 of those 13 Portuguese destinations are in the Azores. Madeira is also an island. I'm not sure what's so ridiculous about an airline whose main business model is to serve the Azores, to serve 13 domestic destinations. They are not even a leisure airline. Few people other than the Portuguese use it. They are an airline owned by the Azorean autonomous government with the main goal of providing inter-island transportation for its citizens, and for its diaspora which is mainly in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Toronto, Montreal.

airbazar wrote:

Actually 13 are in Portugal. I'm not sure you realize that the Azores are an archipelago of 9 main islands. Consequently 9 of those 13 Portuguese destinations are in the Azores. Madeira is also an island. I'm not sure what's so ridiculous about an airline whose main business model is to serve the Azores, to serve 13 domestic destinations. They are not even a leisure airline. Few people other than the Portuguese use it. They are an airline owned by the Azorean autonomous government with the main goal of providing inter-island transportation for its citizens, and for its diaspora which is mainly in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Toronto, Montreal.

Yes, I am aware of what and where the Azores are, thank you. I'm also aware that the population of the Azores is only around 245,000 people, roughly 90,000 less than the population of Iceland. Assuming your point about Portuguese patronage to be true, then it is quite clear that such a small customer base is insufficient to support the current network, in much the same way that the population of Iceland could not possibly sustain the number of daily Icelandair and WOW Air flights alone. Now, what is ridiculous is that the business model is insufficient in its current form and yet continues to be perpetuated. Bringing Icelandair on board indicates a willingness to transform themselves into something more than they are now - a laudable goal.

It is quite possible to expand and open up more profitable destinations while still serving their original customer base. Southern Europe to the USA could potentially be a profitable market for them. Barcelona, Madrid and Rome for example. All three are destinations un-served by Air Azores. It's all very well arguing that they main business model thus far has been to serve the islands, but that clearly isn't enough, because the airline is saddled with debt and is forced to look for a suitor - a knight in shining armor if you will. Adopting the mentality that "things have always been done this way" simply won't cut it. The airline must adapt and look to new markets in order to make more money.