[2][3] A subsidiary of SATA Air Açores, the airline operates as the international arm of the regional network, connecting the archipelago intercontinentally from its hub at João Paulo II Airport.

The airline was first established in March 1990 under the name of OceanAir and in 1995 was authorized to operate air transport services as a non-scheduled carrier.

Following its bid by public tender, SATA Internacional was awarded scheduled routes from Ponta Delgada to Lisbon, Madeira Island and Porto.

In May 2009, SATA adopted a new brand image and a new logo which was applied to its first new Airbus A320-200, registered CS-TKO and named "Diáspora".

Before this, the livery had an idealised logo featuring the bands of crashing waves, superimposed by a sun-disk, with the calligraphic lettering "Fly Azores" below.

The airline as well as its parent company SATA Air Açores adopted new branding in 2009, which included an idealised bird symbol as the new logo.

[18] The "açor" or northern goshawk was thought to have been the bird found circling the islands of the Azores when Portuguese sailors first discovered the archipelago.

On the airline's Airbus A321neos and A321LRs, the fuselage prominently features a word, consisting of either "Breathe", "Wonder", "Magical", "Inspire" or "Peaceful" in a different colour, accompanied by the text, "That's the feeling when you visit Azores."

The airline's Airbus A320 aircraft were repainted to match the branding, each one with the word "Natural", "Dream" and "Unique" written prominently on their respective fuselages.