In May 2026, the AdC sent to the Economy Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores an opinion on Draft Resolution No. 70/XIII/2nd (BE) – "Strategic agreement between SATA and TAP", requested by that Commission.
In its opinion, the AdC recommended to the public decision maker that it should not promote an agreement between two competing airlines and that it could, instead, consider alternative policies that are less restrictive of competition to achieve its public policy objective.
The AdC considers that the adoption of the proposed agreement would be especially likely to reduce competition on the routes between the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Portuguese mainland, as it would involve the only two companies operating on those routes at the time.
The AdC also recommended that, if the partnership proposed in the Draft Resolution is approved:
It should be assessed whether there is a need for prior notification to the AdC, in the context of merger control; and
The entities involved should carry out a self-assessment of the compatibility of the agreement with Competition Law.