This year, Christmas will be different. Fewer planes will fly over the Azores and there will be less traffic at the regional airports. But on land there are gestures that remain and that we will work to multiply, particularly this year.

Christmas is traditionally lived with great intensity in the SATA Group.

Students return home; families come together on one side and the other of the Atlantic; cargo is intensely transported between the islands and between the mainland and the archipelago. This year, things will certainly be less intense, although operating activity will not cease. But there are other actions that take shape on land.

Logistics has been defined. Nine stopovers, offices and aerodromes managed by the group have joined together to bring the traditional Christmas baskets to the community closest to them, containing food or other items that may be most needed.

Jorge from Santa Maria, Lurdes from Horta, César from Pico, Lúcia from São Jorge, Edson from Terceira, Vanessa from Corvo, José from Flores, João from Graciosa and Filipe from São Miguel are the guardians of our baskets and the SATA Group representatives, who kindly offered to collect all donations and ensure their delivery to recipients.

Each SATA Group worker will deposit in the basket where they are based an offering that can be a food item, board games or educational material, within the limits of their possibilities. Depending on the island, the goods will be delivered to social solidarity institutions or, on smaller places, to families who are going through more difficult periods. We know that this year, more than in others, more requests have reached institutions. It is then time to help more than usual. In the face of the adversities and needs that so many go through, it may seem little. But as little as it may seem, it is always better than to fold arms and do nothing.

At the end of the day, it is enough for us that the result of this collective effort provides a cozy Christmas seasonfilled with the simple things that make everyone happy. Then, any extra effort that may have been made will be worth it.

After all, over seventy years of serving the Azores naturally brings a close relationship with the community we serve. And, if the times we live in do not allow us to make the constant bridges in the sky, we won’t be indiferent to what is happening around us.