No, Lajes is a military base with a huge aeroport and several militar facilities. Nowadays is more important to refuel planes in case of war, because nowadays the naval units have a really large autonomy (for example nowadays a nuc sub can be below the water for many month).
Back in 1940, a base das lajes nos Açores (Lajes Base in Azores) was very important to support naval units (refueling and general support).
It makes all the logic in future versions of AA a Naval and Aerial base in Azores in the middle os the way from USA to Europe, and a wider Pacific Ocean with more sea zones (Naval base in Usa=3 moves and naval base in Azores another 3 moves, so in two turns USA still reach Europeif using Azores Base).