euroAtlantic Airways: A Specialist Wide-Body ACMI Career Path

euroAtlantic Airways (legally euroAtlantic Airways, Transportes Aéreos S.A.) is a Portuguese non-scheduled international airline that specialises in ACMI, wet-lease, dry-lease and charter operations. Founded in 1993, it is registered in Carnaxide, a suburb west of central Lisbon, and uses Lisbon Airport (LPPT) as its operational base and principal crew domicile. The airline flies under IATA code YU and ICAO code MMZ. Unlike a scheduled flag carrier such as TAP Air Portugal, euroAtlantic does not sell tickets on a fixed route map. It supplies aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance to other airlines, tour operators, governments and institutions on contracts that can last a single flight or several seasons.

This business model is the single most important thing a pilot needs to understand before applying. euroAtlantic describes its own remit as operating "the most diverse routes in the North Atlantic (USA and Canada), Caribbean, Central and South Americas, Africa, Middle East, Pacific, Australia and Oceania." Over roughly three decades it reports having served 719 airports across 176 countries, an extraordinary footprint for a fleet that currently numbers just six wide-body aircraft. For flight crew, that translates into a working life built around long overseas detachments, seasonal pilgrimage flying, ad-hoc charters and humanitarian missions rather than predictable out-and-back rotations. Full company background is published on the official euroAtlantic corporate site.

Ownership has shifted over the airline's history. It has been associated in the past with Portuguese industrial interests including the Pinto & Cruz group, and more recently with entrepreneur Mário Ferreira and his Pluris Investments group. In November 2019 a consortium that included the London-based investment firm Njord Partners acquired the airline alongside a capital injection and management changes, repositioning euroAtlantic to chase longer-term wide-body ACMI contracts. Workforce-intelligence datasets place total headcount somewhere in the range of roughly 520 to 650 employees across flight crew, cabin crew, maintenance, commercial and administrative functions, and third-party business databases estimate annual revenue near the order of 65 million US dollars. The proportion of that headcount made up of pilots is not publicly disclosed.

euroAtlantic operates an entirely wide-body fleet, a deliberate choice that defines both its market niche and the kind of flying its pilots do. As of late 2025 the fleet comprises six aircraft: three Boeing 767-300ERs, two Boeing 777-200ERs and one Airbus A330-200. The A330-200 (registration CS-TGD) is significant because it is the first Airbus the company has ever operated. It was inducted in 2025, dry-leased from Aircraft Engine Lease Finance (AELF), and was photographed arriving at Lisbon in October 2025. Reporting from ch-aviation indicates the carrier plans to add two more A330s to reach at least eight aircraft by mid-2026, with a ninth unit expected by 2027, gradually replacing the ageing 767s.

The Boeing 767-300ERs (CS-TST, CS-TSU, CS-TSV) have been the backbone of the operation for many years. Two are company-owned, one is leased, and at least one frame has been reported in storage, so the number flying on any given day can be lower than the fleet count suggests. The two Boeing 777-200ERs (CS-TSW, CS-TSX) are company-owned and carry the longest range and heaviest payload, which is why they tend to be used on the most demanding missions, including cargo and humanitarian flights. The 767 has also appeared in freighter configuration on cargo contracts. A Boeing 737-800 has surfaced in past aircraft-availability listings, but the active 2025 to 2026 fleet is all wide-body.

Fleet data verified against ch-aviation and Wikipedia, late 2025. Planned growth to eight aircraft by mid-2026 and nine by 2027 per company statements. Average fleet age is not published; the 767s are mature airframes acquired on the secondary market, while the A330-200 is the newest addition.

Reliable, current salary data for euroAtlantic is genuinely scarce, and prospective pilots should be cautious of any precise figure presented as fact. The carrier does not publish pay scales, and there is no widely available collective agreement governing its pilots in the way the SNPL agreement governs Air France or that TAP's company agreement governs its mainline crews. The most detailed public datapoints come from pilot-forum reports and informal jobs databases, which are useful directionally but are dated and approximate. What follows is presented in that spirit.

Pilot accounts on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network describe a First Officer take-home salary of roughly 1,600 euros per month after tax, rising to around 1,800 to 2,000 euros after one or two years. The same sources note that Captain pay is handled case by case through individual agreements rather than a published scale, and that the company has historically paid an annual bonus to staff. These figures date from the early 2010s and should be treated as a historical floor rather than a current quote, but the consistent picture across multiple informal sources is of a low-pay operator by European standards. Employee reviews on Glassdoor rate compensation and benefits at about 2.3 out of 5, reinforcing that perception.

Indicative Pilot Pay (Approximate, Dated)

These are approximate, partly historical figures stated net of Portuguese tax and social charges. Actual current pay depends on contract, aircraft type, deployment intensity and individual negotiation. Verify directly with the company.

Market Context: Portugal and Peer ACMI Operators

Context only. Hi Fly figures show what a higher-paying Portuguese ACMI operator offers; euroAtlantic's reported levels sit well below both the national average and its closest domestic peer. Portugal-wide averages are drawn from the Euronews 2025 pilot-salary analysis.

The defining feature of euroAtlantic pay is volatility. Per diems, reported at around 50 euros per day for First Officers, are a meaningful slice of total income and rise during intensive periods such as Hajj, when crews can be deployed abroad for a month or more. Pilot accounts suggest take-home can climb toward 3,500 euros in a heavy deployment month. The flip side is that a quiet month, with the pilot at home on standby and little flying, may deliver close to base salary and little else. As one pilot put it, the income is "a constant gamble." Anyone planning a household budget around this job should plan around the low months, not the busy ones.

If salary is the area where euroAtlantic data is thinnest, roster life is where pilot testimony is most consistent: this is a low-predictability environment. Jobs databases describe euroAtlantic rosters as offering less than eight days of visibility, with pilots "almost continuously on standby" and schedules destabilised by ad-hoc charter demand. The same sources credit pilots with 30 days of annual leave per year, which is reasonable by European standards, though how easily that leave can be taken around long-term ACMI commitments is not documented. The operation runs under EASA Flight Time Limitations and Portuguese labour law, but FTL compliance sets a legal ceiling on duty, it does not guarantee a comfortable lifestyle.

The rhythm of the job swings between two extremes. A pilot may spend a month at home with very little flying, then be deployed and based out of a foreign station for the next month. Hajj is the clearest example: euroAtlantic flies the pilgrimage season frequently, with aircraft and crews based in Saudi Arabia for extended periods, and per diems rise accordingly. Long-term ACMI contracts in Africa, the Caribbean or the Pacific produce similar detachment patterns. For some pilots the variety and overseas exposure are the appeal. For others, especially those with families or fixed commitments at home, the unpredictability is the single hardest part of the job.

Illustrative only. euroAtlantic does not publish a fixed roster pattern. This sketch reflects the documented reality of a home standby block followed by a multi-week overseas detachment; other months can be far quieter, with the pilot at home on standby and little flying. Rosters typically arrive with under eight days' notice.

Long-haul wide-body flying on the 767, 777 and A330 means substantial block hours per trip and, on the longest sectors, augmented crews of three or four pilots so that in-flight rest can be taken. Under EASA rules (CS-FTL.1), an extended flight duty period with in-flight rest can reach up to 14, 15 or 16 hours depending on the class of rest facility and the number of additional crew, with a minimum in-flight rest of 90 minutes per crew member. The published rules and best-practice fatigue guidance are available from EASA. How proactively any operator manages fatigue beyond the legal minimum varies, and prolonged detachments with intensive flying make this a live issue at any ACMI carrier.

Benefits at euroAtlantic are best described as functional rather than generous. As a Portuguese employer, the airline enrols staff in the national social security system, which provides the baseline state pension, disability cover and other statutory protections. There is no public evidence of a dedicated supplementary pilot pension scheme of the kind found at some flag carriers. Company job advertisements indicate that private health insurance is provided after six months of contract, in addition to the public health entitlements Portuguese residents already hold. The overall package is modest, consistent with the airline's lower-cost positioning, and Glassdoor's 2.3 out of 5 compensation-and-benefits rating reflects how staff perceive it.

The most financially material benefit for pilots is the per diem. Reported at around 50 euros per day for First Officers, paid for layovers and deployments, per diems function as both expense cover and a genuine income supplement when crews spend long stretches abroad. During Hajj and other intensive contracts, accumulated per diems can lift monthly take-home substantially. The trade-off, again, is unpredictability: per-diem income tracks deployment intensity, so it cannot be counted on as stable.

euroAtlantic does not publish an upgrade timeline, and with such a small fleet the command picture is genuinely different from that of a large airline. A six-aircraft wide-body operation supports only a few dozen Captain seats in total, which caps the absolute number of internal upgrade opportunities. At the same time, ACMI carriers tend to see higher pilot turnover than stable flag carriers, because ambitious First Officers often move on once they have built wide-body hours. That churn can open command vacancies sooner than a rigid seniority list would, so a capable, well-positioned pilot may reach the left seat faster here than at a major, though nothing is guaranteed and the company is also free to recruit direct-entry Captains from the external market to staff new contracts.

Seniority and bidding at euroAtlantic appear to be informal and driven mainly by operational need rather than by a formal, transparent list. When a contract such as Hajj requires every available crew, operational demands tend to override individual preferences. This makes career trajectories less predictable than at a scheduled airline, where a published seniority number governs upgrades, fleet moves and roster bids. Pilots who value transparency and a clear path should weigh that carefully; pilots who prioritise early wide-body command exposure may see the trade as worthwhile.

euroAtlantic recruits pilots on a rolling, contract-driven basis rather than through a single annual campaign. It has publicly advertised for both non-type-rated First Officers and First Officers already type-rated on the 737, 767 or 777, often via its own channels and through Portuguese training partners such as Sevenair Academy. Applications are handled through the company's online portal at ema.euroatlantic.pt, where candidates can also submit spontaneous applications that are kept on file and revisited when a matching vacancy opens. Because hiring is tied to contract wins and fleet growth (the A330 expansion in particular), the volume and timing of openings fluctuate.

Core Requirements (First Officer)

Typical Selection Path

Because euroAtlantic is a non-scheduled ACMI carrier, it has no fixed route map, so the usual "top layover destinations" list does not apply in the conventional sense. What it has instead are recurring deployment theatres, broad regions where contracts repeatedly take its wide-bodies and crews. These shape the texture of the job far more than any single city. Layover quality varies widely across them, from comfortable hotels at major hubs to basic facilities at remote stations, and pilots should expect that range rather than a uniform standard.

The most useful comparisons for euroAtlantic are not flag carriers but its fellow wide-body ACMI specialists. Two stand out: Hi Fly, the other major Portuguese ACMI operator, and Wamos Air, the Madrid-based Spanish charter and ACMI carrier. Both fly wide-bodies on global leasing contracts, which makes them the carriers a euroAtlantic pilot is most likely to weigh against it. Scores below are editorial estimates across the same six metrics used in the scorecard, based on the public data gathered for this guide.

Key Takeaways from the Comparison

Hi Fly sets the premium benchmark. Its careers page advertises a structured 22-days-on, 10-days-off commuting roster with company-paid positioning flights, and informal pay data points to Captain figures around 177,000 euros and top First Officers near 90,000 euros gross. On pay, roster structure and predictability, Hi Fly is clearly ahead of euroAtlantic, which is why many euroAtlantic pilots view a move there as a natural step up.

Wamos Air sits in the middle. Operating an all-Airbus A330 fleet of around a dozen aircraft from a single Madrid-Barajas base, Wamos offers a modern, single-type environment and mid-tier compensation, though it has seen union disputes over pay and conditions. Its single fleet type simplifies training and bidding compared with euroAtlantic's mixed Boeing-and-Airbus line-up.

euroAtlantic's strengths are fleet exposure and entry access. Where it competes is in giving pilots early access to wide-body flying across three types (767, 777 and now A330) and an exceptionally varied global operation, including paths in for non-type-rated First Officers. It trails on salary, benefits and roster predictability, which is the honest trade for that access.

Job security is contract-driven everywhere in this segment. None of the three offers the structural stability of a flag carrier; all depend on winning and holding ACMI contracts. euroAtlantic's three-decade track record and current fleet growth toward eight or nine aircraft are reassuring signs, but ACMI by nature carries more demand risk than scheduled flying.

The main union representing civil aviation pilots in Portugal is the SPAC, Sindicato dos Pilotos da Aviação Civil. It presents itself as the country's first independent pilots' union and defends pilot interests on pay, working conditions, training and safety across the sector, not at a single airline. Its public profile is most visible around TAP Air Portugal, where it negotiated through the airline's crisis-era restructuring, but it operates as a national voice for the profession. The extent to which euroAtlantic's pilots are organised under SPAC or work outside a formal collective agreement is not clearly documented publicly, which is itself a point worth probing during recruitment.

That said, euroAtlantic is not isolated from the national labour conversation. The airline's chief pilot, Mário Alvim de Faria, has been named in SPAC discussions about the pilot retirement age, showing that the company's senior flight management engages with sector-level debate. SPAC has also warned that company-level pilot agreements in Portugal are becoming "more precarious" under current legislation that allows conventions to lapse, a trend that matters most at smaller carriers where union leverage is thinner than at TAP.

The Wider Labour Backdrop

Disputes & Industrial Context