Azores Airlines (S4, Ponta Delgada) has formally announced it will be modernizing its short-haul and transatlantic fleet with the A321neo and the A321neo(Long Range) models.

The Azorian carrier will lease six A321neo from Air Lease Corporation including four -LR variants. The CFM International Leap 1A-powered aircraft are sourced from the lessor's Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) order book and will deliver between the fourth quarter of 2017 and early 2021.

Once in service, the A321neo will begin to replace Azores Airlines' existing fleet of A310-300s

“Our mission is to bring the Azores to the world and the world to the Azores and we are happy to be investing in the A321neo aircraft to continue achieving this,” Paulo Menezes, CEO of SATA Group, said.

The SATA Air Acores (SP, Ponta Delgada) subsidiary currently operates three A310-300s, three A320-200s, and one A330-200. Currently, its North American network entails: Boston; Montréal Trudeau; Providence; and Toronto Pearson.