Yesterday, the manager at international airport Gago Coutinho, in Faro, announced that the airport will have 18 new routes and 6 new destinations this summer, operating a total of 81 connections to 71 cities.
The company ANA (Aeroportos de Portugal – Vinci Airports) specified, in a statement, that the 18 new routes planned for the summer in Faro include six “completely new destinations” and 12 will reinforce “existing routes, but now operated by more airlines”.
Flights from Faro airport will allow "bringing more routes and connectivity" to the Algarve in the period of greater tourist influx to the region and "consolidating the offer and regional and national tourist activity", said the airport manager.
“The main issuing countries for Faro airport, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, increase their offer of seats compared to the summer of 2019”, he said.
In reaction to the ANA announcement, the president of the Algarve Tourism Board (RTA), João Fernandes, told reporters that this increase in routes is “the result of joint work between Turismo do Algarve, ANA Aeroportos and Turismo de Portugal”, which has already allowed the Algarve to have “the greatest connectivity ever” during “this IATA winter” (International Air Transport Association).
This data is “a clear sign” of “the confidence of tour operators and airlines in the Algarve destination” and shows that “tourists corresponded with the largest number of passengers disembarking to date from October 2022 to February 2023”, at Faro airport.
João Fernandes highlighted the importance of the 18 new routes announced by ANA, for the period from April to October, noting that only flights to the six new destinations – “Aarhus in Denmark, Rome in Italy, Strasbourg in France, Bilbao in Spain, and Jersey and Exeter, in the United Kingdom” – which previously “did not have connections to Faro”, will provide “almost 85,000 more seats” to Faro.
“Then, in reinforcing the existing routes, which basically reinforce their competition, because there is a greater commitment from other air operators, we have a very substantial increase in available seats during the IATA summer, which is 250,000 more seats than in 2019, which was the year with the highest ever”, added the president of the RTA.
When asked about the perspectives of the Algarve surpassing the data of 2019, which was the best tourist year ever in the region, João Fernandes replied that there are indicators that point in that direction, with data of “non-refundable reservations” that are “even higher than 2019", but warned that the economic and geopolitical situation requires "cautious optimism".
“The world is unstable and, even from the point of view of availability for consumption, there is greater reluctance in spending on leisure given the general increase in prices, caused by inflation that naturally erodes the purchasing capacity of families in Europe, which are the our main outbound markets” of tourists, he explained.
For this reason, João Fernandes considers that “the ingredients are in line for a good year” for tourism in 2023, but it is necessary to follow the evolution of the international situation "step by step”, so that tourism promoters “are not caught by surprise by any mishap”.
