My trip to the Azores would cover 4 islands over 2 weeks. Getting around requires a series of short inter-island flights and ferries. From the largest island, Sao Miguel, it is almost an hour's flight to Faial. The distance is too far for ferries, and flights are fairly cheap.
It's pretty much a pre-set standard price to fly. The only difference is whether you are a resident or not. SATA doesn't have a concept of Basic Economy on the inter-island routes with only 1 type of fare which already includes 23kg of checked baggage.
It's my first time flying this airline. Apparently, they're also a transatlantic connector with flights to Canadian and American cities as well as a few spots in Europe, mostly to mainland Portugal. There is a huge Azorean diaspora in North America, so their flight map makes good sense.
Booking a flight is also quite straight forward. Their website is quite easy to use but I ended up using an online travel agent as it was cheaper to buy two open-jaws together on the same itinerary than two one-ways with the airline directly.
A month before departure, I got an email that my flight would be operated by an Universal Air aircraft. This would be my first turboprop flight in quite a while!
Ponta Delgada's airport is quite close to the city centre, less than 15 minutes by car. It was an easy drop-off at the car rental, then a short walk to the terminal building next door.
Departures and arrivals share the same floor at this small airport with designated counters at the far end for SATA's inter-island flights. There was a bit of a crowd and processing was slow. Get here early.
Despite the slow processing, staff were pro-active to call out flights cutting close to the cut-off. Browsing the board, there are quite a lot of inter-island flights. Ponta Delgada and Terceira are the main aviation hubs on the Azores, and I could see flights to the other 3 islands that I will visit departing this afternoon.
The main reason why the counters were so busy today is not necessarily because everyone gets at 23kg checked bag, but because 3 flights were departing within less than an hour.
Once past security, there are a few duty-free shops and a coffee joint, but overall there isn't much of interest. The waiting hall was super crowded and I couldn't find a seat at all. Initially, I browsed around the souvenir shop to check out a few familiar snacks that I've bought in the city during my time on Sao Miguel. The fun and shopping ended abruptly when a staff said no photography in the store.
While it was a zoo downstairs, there is actually a small lounge upstairs that was pretty much empty. There was good reason for this - it's a hot and stuffy greenhouse with barely any air-conditioning up here.
I couldn't stand sitting up there for too much longer, and returned back downstairs to see if we're ready to board.
Boarding was timely and we were out on the tarmac under sunny skies to step onto the turboprop. There are no jet bridges here.
The interiors are basic but it's a short flight, so it is no big deal. Legroom was very decent though, and with my bag sent into the hold, I had plenty of room to store my backpack underneath the seat.
The propellers started at 3:02pm and we pushed out 4 minutes later for an on time departure, taking off towards the west at 3:18pm. Ponta Delgada's centre is just off the airport perimeter.
I had picked a right side window seat to enjoy some views of Sao Miguel's west coast on departure, and more crucially, Horta on arrival. The left side will also get lovely views of Pico's volcano, a mountain I will climb in a few days.
The best entertainment on this short flight is the window. The views are so nice with the good weather. Is that Terceira in the distance?
Before reaching Faial, we first passed through the narrow body of water between Sao Jorge and Pico. Sao Jorge looks quite mountainous and narrow. This would be my 4th island further down on this Azores trip.
We made a turn for final approach and Faial comes into view. The weather is less blue skies here but still fairly decent. Today's flight has been smooth, pleasant, and more importantly, scenic.
This is the Horta view I wanted with my window seat.
It was indeed a short flight and we landed at 3:55pm. There are also no jet bridges at this small airport and we took the stairs down to the tarmac and walked to the terminal building, heading upstairs to the luggage belt to wait for our bags. We were the only arrival at that hour.
It was a little bit of a wait for my bag as we watched a new set of passengers board our plane. However, since the airport is also quite close to the centre like in Ponta Delgada, I was at the hotel near the waterfront in no time!
This was a pleasant turboprop flight and flying in the Azores is not bad at all!
