Berta Cabral spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the seminar "Excellence and Sustainability in Tourism - Creating experiences, exceeding expectations", at the Ponta Delgada campus of the University of the Azores.

Asked about the appointment of the new presidency of the Azorean public aviation group, the government official said: "It is not yet time to announce whether we have one."

"SATA's board of directors is fully operational. We do not have to worry excessively about that. Obviously, we want a SATA president who has experience and who can lead the new privatization process that we are obliged to open by imposition of the European Union", the regional secretary argued.

The government official mentioned that there is a board of directors "with two appointed executive directors and two non-executive directors", emphasizing that all the elements "are more than qualified to lead the company's destiny".

On the other hand, Berta Cabral reiterated that the "only way to capitalize" Azores Airlines, the SATA Group company that connects the archipelago with the outside world, "is through the entry of private capital".

"Bringing private capital into the company at this time is crucial for its survival", she reinforced.

The Government of the Azores announced on May 2nd the cancellation of the privatization tender for Azores Airlines/Sata Internacional and the launch of a new one, claiming that the company was valued at six million euros at the beginning of the process and is now worth 20 million, but denied that the reservations about the competing consortium had weighed on the decision.

In early April, the jury of the public tender for the privatization of the company submitted the final report and maintained the decision to accept only one competitor, but admitted reservations about the capacity of the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium to ensure the viability of the company.

Also the management of the SATA Group, then led by Teresa Gonçalves, who has since resigned, expressed "reservations about the NewTour MS Aviation consortium and about the limitations of the competitor" in the opinion sent to the Regional Government.

In April, the executive announced the resignation of Teresa Gonçalves for "personal and contextual reasons". Later, the official told Lusa that she left because she felt that she "could no longer act in accordance" with her principles.

The administrator with the financial portfolio, Dinis Modesto, also resigned.

On May 2nd, SATA's management co-opted the financial director Carla Neto as an administrator in order to guarantee the "daily management" and restructuring of the group while "awaiting the appointment" of a new board.

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