Between January and December of last year, 1,842,460 passengers disembarked at Azorean airports, 138,639 (8.1%) more than in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic, in which the highest number of arrivals in the country had been recorded, according to SREA data which began in 1986.
After a sharp drop in 2020, due to the pandemic, with 638,821 arrivals, the region recorded a recovery in 2021, with 1,181,896 arrivals.
Compared to the same period, there was an increase of 55.9% in 2022.
“All islands show positive variations in passenger arrivals compared to the previous year. The one with the greatest variation is that of São Miguel, with 64.3% and, for the first time, exceeds one million disembarked passengers”, reads in the SREA publication.
By type of flight, disembarkations from inter-island flights stood out the most in 2022, with a total of 827,868 passengers, 36.6% more than in the previous year.
However, it was on international flights that the biggest increase was recorded compared to the same period (218.2%), with more than three times the number of passengers disembarked (198,387).
Passengers on flights from mainland Portugal and Madeira registered a rise of 58.9%, to 816,205.
Year-on-year growth was recorded in every month of 2022.