Accessibility

People with special needs in airport boarding gate.

 

To ensure the utmost comfort, we offer special care and treatment to all passengers with special physical conditions, natural difficulties, or disabilities, either at the airport or on board. To do so, you must request it by email (accessibility@sata.pt) or telephone (toll-free number in the United States 1-800-762-9995 or Contact Center in Portugal at +351 296 209 720*) up to 48 hours before your flight departure.

* Portuguese national landline network call. The communication toll depends on the plan agreed with your operator.

 

Our commitment:

 

1. Treat our passengers with dignity and respect

  • SATA Azores Airlines, including its employees and contractors, does not discriminate against people with disabilities because of their disability.
  • SATA Azores Airlines does not refuse transportation or other services due to their disability, appearance, or resulting involuntary behavior. 
  • SATA Azores Airlines does not require passengers with disabilities to accept special services or subject them to restrictions that do not apply to other passengers, except for passengers with disabilities who may need to check in early, provide advanced notice or documentation, or pre-board to receive specific services related to their disability.
  • SATA Azores Airlines crews are trained to meet the needs of passengers with disabilities and determine how they can be accommodated safely and with dignity.
  • SATA Azores Airlines staff and service providers receive refresher training annually.
  • Complaint resolution staff (SATA Azores Airlines' experts in resolving disability issues) receive refresher training annually.

 

2. Inform about aircraft services, capabilities, and limitations

SATA Azores Airlines provides passengers with disabilities with information at their request about the amenities and services available on the aircraft scheduled for the flight, unless impracticable (e.g., when an unforeseen aircraft replacement occurs).

Dimensions inside aircraft

Mobility and Wheelchair Assistance

Seating arrangements for passengers with disabilities on our aircraft (see section 9 below)

 

3. Provide information in an accessible format

  • Our website www.azoresairlines.pt complies with the WCAG 2.0 standard, level AA, which is a standard required by the U.S. Department Of Transportation. As such, our website is accessible to people who are blind and/or visually impaired, enabling them to:
    • Book or change a flight booking, including all flight amenities;
    • Check in for flights;
    • Access a personal travel itinerary;
    • Access the status of a flight;
    • Access a personal frequent flyer account;
    • Access flight schedules; and
    • Access airline contact information.     
       
  • Passengers who identify themselves as in need of visual or hearing assistance obtain immediate access to the same travel information as other passengers at the boarding gate, ticket counter, customer service counter, and on the aircraft (provided it does not interfere with the safety duties of staff and crew).     
     
  • SATA Azores Airlines employees are trained to recognize requests for communication accommodations and to use the most common methods of communication with individuals who are blind, deaf, or hard of hearing that are readily available, such as writing notes, for example.   
    They are also trained to use established means to articulate with deaf/blind passengers, such as handing out Braille cards if available, reading an information sheet a passenger provides, or communicating through an interpreter, for example.

 

4. Provide accessible airport infrastructures

Special Assistance

  • U.S. airlines and airport operators are both responsible for the accessibility of airport facilities. The Air Carrier Access (ACAA) and the Department's implementing regulations at 14 CFR Part 382 cover airline obligations. Several other federal statutes and regulations apply to U.S. airport operators, for example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and their implementing regulations. Airlines and airport operators have concurrent obligations to ensure the accessibility of airport facilities.
  • In general, SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors ensure that terminal facilities they own, lease, or control are readily accessible to and usable by passengers with disabilities at U.S. airports, and readily usable at foreign airports. Airports are responsible for ensuring the compliance of facilities they own, operate, or lease to other parties, including airlines. SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors guarantee an accessible route between the gate and the aircraft boarding location. When entry-level boarding is unavailable, such as via a jet bridge, SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors and U.S. airports ensure that ramps or mechanical elevators are available to serve most flights. SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors also provide animal care services at the airport in cooperation with airport operators.

 

5. Provide assistance at airports

Passengers with disabilities get prompt and timely assistance in boarding and disembarking, upon request, from duly trained SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors. This includes:

  • the services of staff and the use of ground wheelchairs, accessible motorized carts, boarding wheelchairs, and ramps or mechanical elevators, as needed; 
  • assistance in getting from the terminal entrance to the departing flight, assistance in getting between gates to make connections, and aid in getting from the arriving flight to the terminal exit for pick-up; 
  • assistance in accessing essential functional areas of the terminal, such as the ticket or baggage claim counter or a restroom entrance; 
  • accompany a passenger with a service animal to an animal assistance area at the airport.

Special assistance services must be booked in advance, either at the time of booking or up to 48 hours before travel, to ensure they are available.

Passengers must identify themselves to airline staff when they arrive at the airport or boarding gate to obtain assistance.     
 

Note:     
If you are traveling from one of the airports managed by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal (Ponta Delgada, Santa Maria, Horta, Flores, Lisbon, Porto, or Funchal), when you arrive at the airport, you should look for the Designated Arrival Point – a telephone station duly marked with the MyWay logo. Through the available telephone, you should inform the MyWay service of your arrival so that you can have personal and luggage assistance at check-in, security, border, and boarding controls, until your seat on the plane, at which point the airport's responsibility ends.     
Alternatively, you may contact the ground handling staff at check-in, who will liaise with the MyWay service to provide assistance.

 

6. Provide assistance at the aircraft

SATA Azores Airlines allows a passenger with disabilities who identifies himself at the boarding gate as needing additional time or assistance to board, store accessibility equipment, or be seated, as well as priority to board before all other passengers.

Passengers with disabilities get prompt and timely boarding and deboarding assistance upon request from duly trained SATA Azores Airlines employees or contractors. This includes:

  • assistance in moving to and from seats; 
  • assistance in boarding and deplaning by any means available and acceptable to the passenger.

Once a passenger with a disability has boarded, SATA Azores Airlines staff or contractors will provide assistance, if requested, for example:

  • in moving to or from the restrooms; 
  • stowing and retrieving assistive devices (e.g. walkers, crutches, or other small mobility device).

 

7. Enable travel with an assistive device or assistance animal

Travel with auxiliary devices

SATA Azores Airlines allows assistive devices as hand luggage in the cabin free of charge, depending on safety rules.

  • This includes medical devices and/or a personal amount of medication that assist the passenger with their disability. 
  • Assistive devices are not included in the passenger's carry-on baggage allowance (a maximum of two assistive devices).

SATA Azores Airlines accepts battery-powered wheelchairs if they fit in the hold and can be transported as per safety and security requirements.

For more information on wheelchairs, please see Mobility and Wheelchair Assistance | Azores Airlines.     
 

Traveling with Assistance Dogs

SATA Azores Airlines allows a trained assistance dog to accompany a passenger with disabilities in the aircraft cabin unless:

  • the dog poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others; 
  • the dog causes a significant disturbance or misbehaves in the cabin or the airport’s gate area; 
  • the transportation of the dog disregards the law; 
  • applicable DOT forms were not provided as required by the airline for travel.

If there is no place in the cabin to accommodate both the dog and the passenger safely and comfortably, due to the aircraft’s size and characteristics, the passenger is given the option to:

  • have the dog carried in the hold; or 
  • travel on a later flight with seat availability at no cost for the change associated with the fare purchased.

 

Note: Please be aware that if you are traveling outside the United States, you must verify that the destination country allows legal entry and exit of your pet and what documentary requirements are required.

For more information, see Traveling with Pets | Azores Airlines.

 

8. Provide seating accommodation

SATA Azores Airlines provides specific seats on its aircraft to passengers who inform the airline staff of this need, provided that these seats are available in the same class of service:

  • Movable aisle armrest - When the passenger uses an aisle chair to board and cannot easily transfer over a fixed armrest.
  • Bulkhead seat or other seat - When the passenger is traveling with an assistance pet that is better accommodated in a particular seat, when available.
  • Increased legroom - When the passenger has a leg bound or immobilized, when available. 
  • Adjacent seat - For a travel companion providing a particular type of assistance, such as:
    • A personal care attendant performing a function that is not required to be executed by airline staff, such as assisting in feeding a passenger with disabilities;
    • A reader for a passenger who is blind or with low vision;
    • An interpreter for a passenger who is deaf or hard of hearing; or 
    • A safety assistant if a passenger with a disability cannot assist in their evacuation.     
       

For passengers not specified above, SATA Azores Airlines will assign seats that best accommodate their specific needs if the passenger complies with the airline's procedures.

 

9. Provide seats for passengers with disabilities on our aircraft

Check here the seating for passengers with disabilities on SATA Azores Airlines aircraft:

  • A320 
    Seat map 
    Note: The seats designated for passengers with disabilities have movable armrests.     
    A320 aircraft have toilets with grab bars at the front and right side at the rear.     
     
  • A321neo 
    Seat map 
    Note: The seats designated for passengers with disabilities have movable armrests.     
    The toilet with grab bars on the A321neo is at the front of the aircraft.     
     
  • A321 LR 
    Seat map   
    Note: The seats designated for passengers with disabilities have movable armrests.     
    On A321 LRs, the toilet with grab bars is at the front of the aircraft.

 

10. Answer disability-related questions

SATA Azores Airlines provides Complaints Resolution Officers (CRO), available through the following contacts:

You can obtain more information about the regulations on nondiscrimination in air travel based on your disability in an accessible format from the Department of Transportation by any of the following means:

  • For calls made from within the United States, by telephone via the Toll-Free Hotline for Air Travelers with Disabilities at 1-800-778-4838 (voice) or 1-800-455-9880 (TTY);
  • By telephone to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division at 202-366-2220 (voice) or 202-366-0511 (TTY);
  • By mail to the Air Consumer Protection Division, C-75, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., West Building, Room W96-432, Washington, DC 20590;
  • On the Aviation Consumer Protection Division's website, here.

Learn about the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bill of Rights, which details the fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities, here.

Please note that for your safety, our cabin crew will brief you on standard and emergency procedures on board the aircraft before the flight begins.