“We had a meeting, but SATA does not yet have a consolidated proposal to present and we can't suspend this strike, but at least the pressure that the president of the regional government probably applied bore fruit," Bruno Fialho of the SNPVAC union told Lusa.

His comments came after union leaders and SATA official met for seven hours in Lisbon on Tuesday.

The meeting, which follows others earlier this month, came after union representatives were received on Monday in the regional capital of Ponta Delgada by Azores premier Vasco Cordeiro, together with the regional secretary for transport, Vítor Fraga.

According to Fialho, there are “now other prospects on the table” but there was “no agreement that could prevent the strike”. He said that the unions proposals "are always rejected" by the company.

However, he said that he hoped that elements of the existing employment agreement that the union says the company is not observing would be sorted out "in the next month".

The chief executive of SATA, Paulo Menezes, told Lusa that the company “made a range of proposals" to meet the union's demands that it would "formalise by Wednesday morning" so that it could put them to its members. He described these proposals as "reasonable" and said he believed the strike call could be lifted.

SATA cabin crew had already taken industrial action on 1 and 2 May.