"The ALA sees with great concern the possible departure of Ryanair from the airspace of the Azores, since, daily, the news increases regarding a possible negative outcome of the ongoing negotiations", says the ALA, in a press release.

According to the ALA, “such an outcome would be extremely negative for the region, not only directly for tourism in the low season but also in terms of promoting the Azores destination, taking into account the capacity of this airline to reach the large outbound markets”.

ALA, citing a survey carried out among its members, states that "about 38% said they were already feeling the impact of the uncertainty surrounding Ryanair's permanence in the Azores, given that flight reservations are blocked from November".

“By stratifying this data, in São Miguel, practically 42% of respondents say they are already feeling the impact of this situation. On average, it is estimated that, if Ryanair effectively stops flying to the Azores in the low season, ALA would suffer losses of around 31%”, maintains the organisation.

On July 27, the regional secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, Berta Cabral, said that the Regional Government's negotiations with the airline Ryanair for maintaining the company's base in the archipelago "are on the right track".

“Right now, on our side, the issues are very well underway. But, in fact, there are still situations to resolve with ANA [Aeroportos de Portugal] Vinci. And these are the ones that are pending and an agreement is only closed when it is closed with the three parties”, Berta Cabral told journalists, in Ponta Delgada, at the end of a meeting with the ANA executive.

At the time, Jornal de Negócios reported that Ryanair and the Government of the Azores had not yet reached an understanding for maintaining the airline's base in the archipelago.

To Jornal de Negócios, the airline's CEO, Eddie Wilson, confirmed the continuation of negotiations, but said that there had not yet been "no development to encourage" the company to stay and that the decision to leave Ponta Delgada would be "imminent".