Aviation in the Azores The Aviation in the Azores is part of the greater history of aviation in Portugal , and involves the historical use of the archipelago of the Azores by North American , South American and European pioneers of aviation . The Azores is strategically located in the centre of the North Atlantic between the continents of North America and Europe , and has played a historical role in trans - Atlantic navigation . History . First World War . The city of Horta was bombarded by on December 1916 , and the following year the city was shelled by the German U - boat on 4 July 1917 . With the U . S . entry into the First World War the previous year , American naval forces occupied and operated a naval base in Ponta Delgada , consisting of a few Curtiss HS2L hydroplanes , 150 infantrymen , two pieces of artillery , some ships and submarines . The first of the contingent began patrolling on 23 February 1918 , alongside the São Brás Fort in Ponta Delgada . Their mission was to identify and combat German submarines that tracked merchant shipping in the Atlantic , and protect the waters of the Azores . Even during the conflict , and following its events , the Portuguese Navy already projected the installation of a permanent naval air station in Horta ( ) , which never materialized . Similarly , in 1919 , the British Royal Air Force planned the possibility of acquiring one of the Portuguese islands in the Azores , to install a terrestrial base to provide support to air operation in the mid - Atlantic . Inter - wars . During the inter - war years , trans - Atlantic competition persisted between British and American entrepreneurs ; the London - based Daily Mail promoted a competition worth £10 , 000 , to the aviator who was able to cross the Atlantic non - stop , within 72 consecutive hours , between the United States , Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland . In this context , three four - engine hydroplanes of the American Navy attempted the first non - stop trans - Atlantic crossing between 16 – 17 May 1919 . Two of the planes ( NC1 and NC2 ) made emergency landings near Flores : NC1 was completely damaged , while the NC2 was able to continue to Ponta Delgada ( by 19 May ) , but unable to complete the journey . NC4 , under the command of Lieutenant - Commander Albert Cushing Read was able to survive the attempt , stopping in the Bay of Horta on 17 May , and continuing to Ponta Delgada ( where he stopped on 20 May ) . After a week of rest , the team left on the morning of 27 May in the direction of Lisbon , arriving in the capital in the evening and anchoring in the Tagus River . Still in 1919 , a hydroplane travelling from England to the United States stopped in Faial , which became a frequent occurrence over time , utilizing Horta as a stopover . With the advent of commercial dirigibles , the archipelago was over - flown in 1924 , 1927 and 1930 , by Zeppelin s making the connection between Germany and the United States . In April 1926 , a Fokker hydroplane , baptized " " Infante de Sagres " " , departed from Lisbon , under the command of Portuguese Navy pilots Moreira de Campos and Neves Ferreira , intentionally to connect Madeira and the Azores , arriving in Ponta Delgada on 9 May 1926 . Following this first flight , in 1927 , the Marquess Francesco De Pinedo , colonel in the Italian Air Force , was forced to ditch his plane 200 kilometres from the island of Flores , after departing Newfoundland . The Savoia - Marchetti S . 55 hydroplane , named the " " Santa Maria II " " , was recovered and arrived in Horta , where it was repaired . Later that year , in November , a Junkers D 1230 , piloted by Lilly Dillenz ( the first woman to fly the Atlantic ) and a Heinkel D 1220 hydroplane stopped off in Horta , where they encountered American aviation pioneer Ruth Elder , who was trying to emulate Charles Lindbergh ' s feat . Piloting a small monoplane , that she named " " American Girl " " , and accompanied by Captain George Haldeman , she was forced to ditch her plane in the waters along the north coast the island of Terceira due to mechanical problems , and the aircraft caught fire . In June 1928 , English pilot Frank T . Courtney , piloting a Dornier Wal G - CAGI , and later in July , a French Lieutenant , in a small hydroplane named " " La Frégate " " , stopped in Horta on their trans - Atlantic flights . In Graciosa , on the morning of 13 June 1929 , an Amiot 123 biplane overturned during an attempted emergency landing in some fields near Brasileira . The plane , piloted by Polish aviators Ludwik Idzikowski and Kazimierz Kubala had departed early that morning from Le Bourget field , in the suburbs of Paris , as part of their first trans - Atlantic crossing , heading for New York . Major Idzikowski was killed in the accident and Kazimierz Kubala suffered minor injuries , while the plane was consumed by flames during the rescue , when someone approached the wreckage with a torch . A cross was erected to mark the location of the accident . The following year , the Portuguese armed forces supported the idea to construct an airfield on the island of Terceira . On 4 October 1930 , the first mono - motor Avro 504 K biplane called the " " Açor " " , piloted by local Frederico Coelho de Melo departed from the 600 metre long and 70 metre wide runway . Between 1930 and 1933 , the American Pan American completed tests in Horta bay as part of their plans to operate trans - Atlantic routes between North America and Europe . In this context , Charles Lindbergh ( accompanied by his wife Anne Morrow ) in service of Pan American , landed on 21 November 1933 , with his Lockheed 8 Sirius monoplane . After these tests , between 1937 and 1944 , Pan America ' s " Flying Boats " ( Boeing 314 Clipper s ) routinely made the New York - Marseilles and New York - London routes with stopovers in Lisbon . The New York - London leg of the flight had a 23 hour and 55 minute duration , and included a one hour and thirty minute layover in Faial , while the Lisbon - Marseille route consumed an additional seven hours . The use of Faial as a technical layover was also used by other companies , who used the waters between Faial and Pico on stopovers between North America and Europe . In April 1931 , during the Azores Revolt , three small hydroplanes of the Portuguese Navy used Horta as a base to overfly Angra do Heroísmo and Monte Brasil . These planes dropped pamphlets onto the island in order to convince the mutineers to surrender . In 1933 , a squadron of 24 hydroplanes commanded by Italo Balbo arrived in the archipelago : nine landed in the port of Horta , while the remaining continued onto Ponta Delgada , where one was lost en route . A year later , on 19 May 1938 , a comparable squadron of four tri - motor aerial reconnaissance Breguet - Bisert of the 1st Atlantic Light Squadron landed in Ponta Delgada , before one continued on to Horta and another to Angra do Heroísmo . Second World War . With the outbreak of the Second World War , the Portuguese Navy finally established a permanent Air - Navy Centre in Ponta Delgada . At the same time , a military aerodrome was established at Santana , in the civil parish of Rabo de Peixe , in the municipality of Ribeira Grande . Located on the northern part of the island , it operated as a military installation during the War , when it was known as " Base Aérea No . 4 " . But , by the spring of 1941 , António de Oliveira Salazar began to believe that Germany , or its allies , would completely overrun the Iberian Peninsula . As a consequence , the Estado Novo regime pondered the withdrawal of the Portuguese government to the Azores , with the support of Britain . It was in this context that an Anglo - Portuguese working group was established to study and design the construction of new airfields in the archipelago . But even as the fear subsided , British prime minister Winston Churchill believed that new installations would be essential in the control of central and southern supply routes in the Atlantic Ocean , as well as supporting Allied forces operating in North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea . The construction of air - sea bases would close the " Azores Gap " , and provide a secure blanket for the North Atlantic . The sudden attack at Pearl Harbour by Imperial Japanese forces resulted in a review of Portuguese guidelines , paralysing the working group . A ship ( the Portuguese " " Mirandela " " ) shipped 30 Gloster SS37 Gladiators and five Junkers Ju 52 monoplanes , as well as support equipment and personnel , were sent to the Azores ( departing on 4 June 1941 ) . Fifteen of the Gloster Gladiators and five JU52s were deposited in São Miguel at Air Base 4 , for the 1st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron , while the remaining planes were sent to Terceira to form the 2nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron . At the same time , the British sent to São Miguel 12 Curtiss P - 36 Hawk , to constitute the 3rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron . But , the Achada Airfield in Terceira suffered from periods of fog , which covered the area during most of the year . This meteorlogical problem , forced the relocation of air operations to the plain of Lajes , where they constructed a new runway . After long negotiations , an accord was established between Portugal and Great Britain ( 1 August 1943 ) , which conceded the facilities at Air Base 4 and Lajes for use by British forces to base their North Atlantic anti - submarine patrols . In exchange , the Portuguese received six squadrons of Hawker Hurricane s . By this time , in 1942 , Humberto Delgado was appointed Air Force representative to the Anglo - Portuguese working group . Conscious of the geostrategic importance of the Azores , to trans - Atlantic flight , Delgado recommended to Salazar that one of the two air bases ( Santa Maria or Lajes ) should be converted into a trans - Atlantic airport and centre for air traffic control , while noting : " " If Your Excellency wishes to decide [ which airport ] , I would say Lajes will do , but everyone , even the British , consider Santa Maria better " " For his efficiency in the commission , the British government , decorated Humberto Delgado with the Order of the British Empire , since the officer had risked his career and future on the Allied cause . Between 15 – 18 May 1943 , the " Trident " conference to approve an Allied strategy on the Azores . It was followed by the Quebec Conference between August 11 and 30 , in which U . S . President Theodore Roosevelt and British Prime Minister agreed that Great Britain would enter the Azores with Portuguese authorization , followed by the United States , two weeks later . On 10 September , a combined British force , under the command of Air Marshall G . R . Bromet , departed from Liverpool in the direction of the island of Terceira . British forces disembarked on 8 October 1943 , at the Port of Pipas , in Angra do Heroísmo , and a contingent of 3000 soldiers , travelled to Lajes in begin expanding the small aerodrome in the area called Terra Chã . Before the end of the year , the 235 Squadron of the Royal Air Force ' s Coastal Command was able to sink a German submarine using its contingent on Terceira . By the beginning of 1944 , 1400 U . S . troops and 1700 tonnes of equipment had also arrived in Angra and Praia da Vitória , in order to expand and reinforce the runway at Lajes . This included the 928 Engineering Regiment of the U . S . Air Force ( 17 January ) , and the 95 Battalion of the U . S . Navy ' s Seabee construction corp ( 19 January ) . Later the Americans signed an accord to construct an aerodrome on the island of Santa Maria ( 28 November 1944 ) . This was done under the guidance of Pan American airlines , as the Portuguese , not wanting to arouse the wrath of the Nazi Germany , only accepted the project on the grounds that it was a civilian facility . The construction began in 1944 , in conjunction with the erection of a company hospital that served to provide medical assistance to U . S . troops hurt in the European theatre of operations . At the end of 1946 , the aerodrome in Santana was converted into a civil airport , with two grass fields ( one with a 1500 metre runway and the other 100 metres in length ) . The local population , owing to its rural location , on prime agricultural location , resulted in its local colloquial name as " " aerovacas " " , since cattle grazed on the land when flights were not occurring . Ponta Delgada - Santana field was a regional airport at the time , and international services were directed to the international airports in Santa Maria or Lajes Airfield . Post - World Wars . But , the inauguration of the Ponta Delgada - Nordela Airport on the southern coast , fronting the main population centre , on 10 August 1969 , changed the face of regional / international services in the Azores . Since its inauguration the Nordela Airport served as the operational base of SATA Air Azores and , two years later ( in 1971 ) , TAP Air Portugal began to provide regular flights between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada . By the end of the 1960s , new aerodromes were constructed on other islands in the archipelago : In 1976 , following the fall of the Estado Novo regime , in an era that was tumultuous , the democratic politicians debated a proposal in Portuguese National Assembly to regionalize the provision of services to the Azores and Madeira . Following these events , the increasingly autonomous governments of the Azores , between 1981 and 1983 , built several airports to provide expanded service to the remaining islands . In addition to improvements at Horta Airport , the government of the Azores finalized construction of : SATA . Since the 1940s , the Portuguese flag carrier Transportes Aéreos Portugueses operated regular flights to the Azores through the gateways in Ponta Delgada , Lajes and Vila do Porto . Meanwhile , a group of investors started their own air carrier : Sociedade Açoriana de Transportes Aéreos , or SATA , as it was known , during the Second World War . These investors , which included Augusto Rebelo Arruda , founded originally the Sociedade Açoriana de Estudos Aéreos , Limitada ( on 21 August 1941 ) , with the objective of obtaining the authorization from the Portuguese government to establish flights between the islands and mainland Portugal . Six years later , its objective reached , the " society " changed its title to Sociedade Açoriana de Transportes Aéreos , Limitada , and on 15 June 1947 inaugurated flights using their first Beechcraft ( serial number CS - TAA ) , named " " Açor " " . The airplane transported two crew and seven passengers , and made connections between the islands of São Miguel ( from the Santana air field until 1969 , and later from Nordela after 1969 ) with Santa Maria and Terceira . A year later , SATA received two De Havilland DH . 104 Dove ( on 23 May 1948 ) , with a capacity for nine passengers and 700 kilos of cargo ( in addition to the crew ) . Flight operations began on the 1 August 1948 , but were quickly suspended after the Beechcraft was involved in an accident . On the morning of 5 August , the " " Açor " " crew registered difficulties after departing São Miguel on a routine flight to Santa Maria On 21 August 1963 , the SATA fleet increase with the acquisition of a Douglas DC - 3 with a capacity for 26 passengers . In 1972 , SATA acquired the small fleet of Avro HS - 748 which it had been using since 1969 , with an improved capacity for 48 passengers . Following the Carnation Revolution , in 1976 , when the Portuguese government debated regionalization of aviation services , the Portuguese Air Force transferred two Douglas DC - 6 to SATA . Regionalization was achieved on 17 October 1980 , when 50 % of SATA ' s operating shares were purchased from the Bensaude Group by the Regional Government of the Azores ( the remaineder by TAP Air Portugal , EP ) . The purchase allowed the regionalization of air services into the public company Serviço Açoriano de Transportes Aéreos , Empresa Pública ( while maintaining its abbreviation ) . The same year that SATA became a public company , it also joined the European Regional Airline Association ( ERAA ) and the International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) . Following the suggestion of Regional President Mota Amaral , in 1986 , the regional air carrier began to operate as SATA Air Açores . After 1985 , Azores Express , an company of Grupo SATA , operated charter flights between the United States and the archipelago , while SATA Express , served charter services to Canada . By the end of 1980s , SATA re - marketed itself : in 1988 , it altered its colours ; began re - publishing its onboard magazine " Paralelo 38 " as the bilingual " Espírito Açoriano " / " Azorean Spirit " ; and between 1989 and 1990 , the Avro aircraft were replaced by a small fleet of British Aerospace ATP aircraft . The first aircraft , baptized " " Santa Maria " " entered into service in 1989 ; the second , named " " Flores " " , in 1990 ; and the third , " " Graciosa " " , in 1991 . Still in 1991 , the first permanent flights began to serve the island of Corvo , with a single Dornier 228 - 212 , occasionally substituted by an CASA C - 212 Aviocar from the Portuguese Air Force . The SATA Group expanded internationally through the acquisition of OceanAir ( which had suspended flying in 1994 ) , and on 20 February 1998 renamed it SATA International , re - inaugurating services on 8 April 1998 . While SATA Air Açores continued to operate within the archipelago , the new entity provided connections internationally and to the European continent with a fleet of Airbus Industries aircraft ( including A310 for long - haul and A320 for domestic / short - haul service ) .