Flying to the Azores Islands from USA or Canada

There has always been a limited number of ways of traveling to the Azores. If you are in Europe or North America you can fly with one of the few airlines that has access to fly to the Azores. In North America, only a few cities operate direct flights to the Azores Islands, which can be quite affordable if you book in advance. Some of the cities with direct flights to the Azores are Boston to Ponta Delgada, the capital of the largest island; Sao Miguel. This is around a 4-hour flight and the 4 hour time difference makes it seem even closer. Azores Airlines formerly SATA began rebranding in 2016 to become a more dominant player in the eco-tourism travel market. In the spring and summer months, they offer flights out of San Jose in California, to the Azores with a stop in Boston or direct depending on the flight. If you want to fly to the Azores from North America, Azores Airlines (Sata) is the only smart way to travel without going to mainland Europe first and then going back to the Azores. The heavily government-funded Azores Airlines once was the only way to fly to the Azores from North America for decades. In 2019 Delta Airlines; one of the world’s largest airlines began operating direct flights to two of the Azores islands out of New York. In Canada, you can fly direct out of Toronto’s Pearson International airport via Azores airlines with a flight time of just over 5 hours. The lines for checking in more often than not take a little longer than expected. However, they have added mobile features on their web app which allows you and your group to pre-check-in. The optional benefits of the food, wine, movie service, snack service, and even a hot towel while in coach make this a very pleasant airline to travel with. There are added fees for most of these amenities that they used to provide free of charge. The Azores airlines have expanded in recent years to start including locations throughout Europe with direct flights to and from the Azores. By doing so, this has added the Azores to the travel list of many tourists who now have a gateway to Europe by flying into the Azores first and discovering these unique treasures in the Atlantic and then flying affordably to Portugal or other European countries with the same airline, which is a benefit if you are a member of their rewards program!