Our flight from Ponta Delgada to Lisbon was departing at 9:45AM, though we got to the airport plenty early, at around 7AM. That's because we had to get gas, return our rental car, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to review the airport, etc. Ponta Delgada Airport is quite small, with…
Continue reading: Review: Azores Airlines Lounge Ponta Delgada
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I was there last year and I did not had to go through passport control. I flew TAP to LIS.
Hey lucky could you do a piece on the best small airport lounge that you have visited? Also a general comparison of what are the main differences in service between a small and large airport would be really cool.
Just a suggestion.
The Azores are part of the Schengen Area. You should not have to go through any sort of passport control to enter mainland Portugal.
@ Ben -- We had to go through passport control departing Ponta Delgada and on arrival in Lisbon. It seems others had the same experience:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1714517-finally-a310-sata-pdl-lis-j-september-2015-a.html
@lucky - Weird - was under the impression that's the entire point of the Schengen Area. Maybe it has to do with the migrant issues Europe has faced.
@Lucky What would you say is the world's best airport? Also, what is your favorite airport in Florida?
Just a detail about the branding. Both Azores Airlines and SATA coexist. They rebranded SATA Internacional to Azores Airlines. That is the side of the carrier which operates outside the islands (to North America, Africa, Madeira and also to mainland Portugal). Those flights across the islands are still opetared under the SATA brand.
You were not getting aboard a flight from a Schengen Area, it was a non Schengen one.
The last time I checked Canada and the USA are not part of that agreement to have people and goods traveling around between their members without passport/customs control.
And there are daily flights to and from those countries daily at that airport with a stop, not end of flight there.
And I agree the lounge is a bit on the miserable side, but like you said there aren't many premium travelers around.
I forgot to mention that that has happened to me several times and the surprise lasts a few moments " OH. I'm flying in that bloody old coal flying train, that comes from or goes to north america! :P"
Ah.... this airport is in the Azores, not in Dubai.
What did you expect ?
Its not like there are $ 28,000 First Class passenger tickets leaving from this airport.
Really ? Have you been to the lounge in Tulsa Oklahoma lately ? Not much better. Oh, thats right, there IS no lounge. Jeez.
@Ben, you complained that the lounge only had carbs, but outside of the lounge, you had coffee and muffins... isn't that carbs too? 🙂
On the passport control, that's very very strange..I did the same route despite with TAP to LIS, and there was certainly no passport control. Is it because the flight will continue in LIS further out of Europe? Just a guess on the passport control thing...
Cheers!
Again I'll repeat that @Ben was boarding a "NON SCHENGEN FLIGHT", probably from Canada or USA.
Because of that I just can't understand why are a lot of surprise about it, it is supose to be passport control on non Schengen flights? Isn't it?
@Mike "The lounge was so bad that we decided to go to a coffee shop to get a coffee and snack. There were no healthy options, just a selection of carbs" seems to be referring to the options at the coffee shop not in the lounge
Was this an exit passport control or entry passport control (as denoted by the stamp in your passport)? I was confused by @José T.'s comments until I realized that you were boarding a flight that had non-cleared passengers from North America--so I suspect they have to treat you as leaving the Schengen Area to board this flight, simply to reprocess you as a Schengen arrival on the other end? Otherwise, there'd be no way to tell the difference between those who had been processed and those who hadn't...
Austin
It's a flight originated on a non Schengen Area country with final destination Lisbon, with a stop at Ponta Delgada, so everyone between origin and destination that are going in and out, including stops have to be for ID at origin, at stop over and at destination.
You can get in Boston and get out at PDL, if your final destination is Lisbon you get out of the plane in PDL but you can not leave the airport, you go to the international boarding area at the airport to wait for reboarding.
One of the reasons is that this kind of fligths serve mostly the azorian comunities at north america, but also serve to connect some islands to the mainland and viceversa, without having t6o operate a diferent plane/fligth. I guess.
Ben could you PLEASE write a post about your favorite/best lounges in the world?
"SATA rebranded as Azores Airlines several years ago, but the airline can’t seem to update their branding, as just about everything still says SATA".
@Ben: it isn't as simple as that. The holding SATA Group (aka SATA SGPS) owns SATA Air Açores, which is an airline that connects the 9 islands of the Azores archipelago. SATA Air Açores owns, in turn, owns the airline SATA Internacional, which is the airline you flew. It isn't therefore a matter of not updating the branding, but of actually reflecting their (complex) corporate identity.
https://www.sata.pt/en/sata/about-sata