Azores arrivals double

… but still lower than 2019

Açoriano Oriental reports that the number of passengers disembarking at airports in the Azores in September was more than double the number registered in the same month in 2020, but still lower than in 2019, according to data from the Regional Statistical Service of the Azores (SREA).

According to figures published on their website, consulted by press agency Lusa, in September 154,248 passengers arrived from air transport in the Azores, 109.27% ​​more than in the same period of 2020, when 73,708 passengers landed.

In comparison with the same month of 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet “hit”, the number of passengers registered in 2021 showed a slight decrease. There is a reduction of about 7.7%, from 167,172 passengers in September 2019 to 154,248 in the same month of 2021.

The movement of passengers at the airports in the Azores was also lower this month, compared to the months of July and August, when 165,833 and 200,121 passengers landed, respectively. As for the accumulated value from January to September, there was also a growth between 2020 and 2021, in the order of 70.52%.

As of September, 855,965 passengers have already landed in the Azores, while in 2020 there were 501,952 passengers in the first nine months of the year.

The island of São Miguel (photo), the largest and most populous in the archipelago, is the one with the highest passenger movement, with 84,903 arrivals, followed by Terceira (32,749) and Faial (11,044).

Inter-island flights growing in the Azores

Since April 2020, disembarked passengers from inter-island flights have been higher than passengers from flights originating on the mainland or in the Madeira archipelago. This trend is repeated in September, with 78,656 passengers on inter-island flights, 65,072 on territorial flights and 10,520 on international flights.

There is an increase in all types of air connections compared to 2020, with emphasis on inter-island flights, which, between January and September 2021, recorded an increase of around 79.7%, going from 252,671 disembarked passengers to 454,023. In international flights, the growth was 66.52% (from 27,790 to 46,275 passengers) and 60.58% in domestic flights (from 221,491 to 355,667).