The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has announced further lawsuits against state aid for airlines. This time it hits Azores Airlines and Sata Air Acores. Chief lawyer Juliusz Komorek describes the aid as "illegal" and wants to take it to the European Court of Justice.

“This is an interesting case. The European Commission partially approved state aid for SATA and an investigation into old recapitalization measures has also been launched. There were three different recapitalization measures in favor of SATA that were not notified to the European Commission. If this type of help is not communicated, it is illegal, ”Komorek told Lusa News Agency. "We recognize the importance of SATA in ensuring connectivity between the Azores and the continent, but one thing that was overlooked in this process was that there are other airlines like Ryanair that are doing the same."

On October 18, 2020, the EU Commission gave the green light for 133 million euros that the state of Portugal has made available to the carrier. One of the arguments for the aid was that connectivity between the Azores and the mainland must continue to exist.