Portuguese airports recorded the largest growth ever in 2015, with an increase of 11% over the previous year.
The number of passengers rose to 38.9 million, according to data released today by the French owned ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal.
The largest increase was recorded at airports in the Açores, where growth was 25.7% with 1.6 million passengers travelling to the islands now that air links have been opened to airlines other than the former monopoly SATA.
Lisbon Airport processed 20 million passengers, an increase of 10.7% and Oporto Airport welcomed 8.1 million passengers, up 16.7% despite fee rises at both destinations.
In the Algarve, Faro airport saw a rise of 6.4% to 6.4 million passengers and in Madeira, 2.7 million passengers represented a rise of 6.3% on 2014.
According to ANA, "sustained passenger growth in recent years has resulting from the attractiveness of the airports network and consolidates effort made with new routes and airlines."
"The last two years have been marked by strong growth in 'low cost' passenger traffic, especially in 2015 which was a year that the growth of 'low cost' airlines was higher than in the traditional airline segment " noted ANA whose expansion work at Faro Airport is due to be completed in Spring 2017 which then will enable shops to take full advantage of passengers with additional space devoted to removing money from their wallets.
For Faro airport development plans, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=494KkjEfnp8&feature=youtu.be
