Air Lease announced that Azores Airlines SATA International (Portugal) received its first new Airbus A321neo aircraft. This aircraft is the first of six CFM Leap 1A engine-powered A321neos to be delivered to Azores Airlines from Air Lease’s order book with Airbus. The next five A321neos will deliver between now and early 2021.

The airline, fully owned by SATA (Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos), became the first Portuguese operator to receive a member of the A320neo family. By way of a transatlantic network, these aircraft will connect Portugal and Azores to cities in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to major Western European cities.

“The six new ALC A321neo aircraft will progressively replace Azores’ aging A310s on routes from Azores to the USA and Canada as well as on the airline’s high frequency network to Portugal and Western Europe. The A321neo brings new levels of operating efficiency, passenger comfort, low fuel burn and emissions as well as network flexibility to Azores,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of Air Lease.