Portugal: Airport Passenger Numbers Mark 500% Increase

Such conclusions have been reached through the recent report conducted by the National Institute in the Rapid Air Transport Statistics for April this year, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.

“In the first four months of 2022, the number of passengers increased by 500.3 per cent (-19.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2019), continuing the trend towards the levels recorded in the pre-pandemic period,” the figures provided by the same source revealed.

In addition, the same source shows that for a period between January and April 2022, the main country of origin and destination of flights remained France, marking a 445.8 per cent surge in the number of travellers disembarked as well as a total of 371.8 per cent in the number of travellers embarked, compared to the statistic period of last year.

According to the figures provided by authorities in Portugal, France was followed by the United Kingdom and Spain.

Taking into account only the figures for April 2022, it was reported that a total of 18,600 aircraft on commercial flights landed at the national airports of Portugal, corresponding to a total of 4.9 million travellers and 18,300 tonnes of cargo and mail were handled.

According to the data provided by the National Institute, in April 2022, there was registered an average daily arrival of a total of 83,800 travellers at national airports, approaching the observed level in April 2019.

Taking into account travellers disembarking in April this year, a total of 81.5 per cent corresponded to international traffic, the majority of them from the European countries, or as of 70.6 per cent of the total.

As for embarked travellers, a total of 80.6 per cent corresponded to international traffic, with the main destination being airports in European countries.

The increase in the number of passengers mainly results from the easing of the restrictions previously imposed to contain the further spread of the Coronavirus and its new variants.

Recently, the figures provided by Portugal’s hotel association AHP revealed that the tourism sector in Portugal had marked significant improvement compared to other European countries; however, the statistics continue to remain well below pre-pandemic levels.