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Browsing Tag: Azores

Flying a SATA Airbus A310 “Football” to the Azores

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- Photo: Lord of the Wings | FlickrCC

SATA Airbus A310 – Photo: Lord of the Wings | FlickrCC

As part of a recent business trip, I had to make a trip to the Azores. There are a limited number of options for getting out to the island chain in the central Atlantic. As I was coming from Lisbon, I had the option of either taking the low-cost route of Ryanair/easyJet, or full-service options of TAP or SATA (Sociedade Açoriana de Transportes Areos).

What sealed the deal to take SATA over TAP was the fact that my desired flight was to be operated by an Airbus A310 aircraft, (affectionally known as “the football”), a classic airliner that is disappearing from active commercial service. I had never flown on an A310, nor on SATA, so I was looking forward to this trip.

Sometimes it's fun to board by a bus Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter

Sometimes it’s fun to board by bus on an A310 (reg: CS-TKN) – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter

Departure in Lisbon was from Terminal 1. Online check-in is possible with SATA, however as I had a bag to drop off and I wanted a “souvenir” paper boarding pass (something harder to come by these days), I used the classic counter check-in. As my flight was was continuing on to Boston, from Ponta Delgada, the departure was from the non-schengen area of the terminal. This necessitated passing through passport control, and was hassle-free as my boarding pass clearly stated I was disembarking in the Azores and I only needed my ID card.

When ready to board, we boarded a bus and headed out on the ramp. No complaints from me, since I enjoyed the experience of the A310 up-close-and-personal.

VIDEO: SATA Airbus Does Extreme Crosswind Landing

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Crosswind landings can be quite tricky. I have watched this video over and over again and trying to figure out what aircraft types I am seeing. The page hosting the video says this is an Airbus A340 trying to land twice. Ha. It is easy to tell this isn’t not an Airbus A340 (they have four engines). It appears to be two separate aircraft. The first looks to be a SATA International Airbus A320 and the second looks to be an SATA International Airbus A310. I am guessing this video is taken in the Azores. If you have any additional information or want to fight about the plane types, let me know!