Have you ever heard about LPAZ? Probably not. LPAZ is the international code of the Santa Maria airport, in the island of Santa Maria, Azores Islands. Also, LPAZ is the name of an association devoted both to preserve the historical heritage of the local airport, when it was a key stopover for transatlantic flights in the 1950s-60s, and to promote the island’s enduring relevance in the transatlantic ecosystem.
On 8-10 September 2022 LPAZ organized, in Santa Maria, the international conference “Wings of the Atlantic: the Azores and the Challenges of the West”. The conference had two main sessions. The first developed around four panel discussions: biological preservation; the history of civil aviation; the mid-Atlantic in 21st century’s international relations; the Azores as a growing hub for space installations. In the second one, delegates went on a “strategic route” of the island’s most important scientific and telecommunication infrastructures: the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Geodetic (within the EU-led RAEGE project) Stations as well as the Santa Maria Radar Antenna and the LPAZ air traffic control center.
TSA was honored to be a partner of LPAZ and other Portuguese institutions in the organization of the conference.