The number of passengers at Portuguese airports in the first quarter of 2023 was 12.87 million, which symbolizes a record number in Portugal. More than half of these passengers moved in the city of Lisbon
Between the months of January and March 2023, that is, in the first quarter of the year, 12.87 million passengers boarded and disembarked at Portuguese airports, according to data released on Friday, May 12, by the Instituto National Institute of Statistics, INE. In simplified terms, these numbers represent a record number in Portugal.
In the INE report, the Institute points out the main origin and return destinations for passengers: France, United Kingdom, Spain and United States of America. These data, remember, only refer to the days between January 1st and March 31st.
If in January and February, the number of passengers at Portuguese airports did not jump to the fore, during the month of March and according to the National Institute of Statistics, there were 4.9 million passengers, which corresponds to an increase of 13.8% compared to March 2019 and 29.7% compared to March 2022 (between 2020 and 2021 there were constraints on travel due to the pandemic, so this growth is comparative to 2019 and 2022). INE underlines that “since the beginning of 2023, monthly passenger values at national airports have always been higher than pre-pandemic levels”.
Following the data disclosed, it should be noted that, during the first quarter of 2023, Humberto Delgado airport, in Lisbon, handled 55.3% passengers (7.1 million), which represents a growth of 57.6% when compared to the same period in 2022. Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, in Porto, concentrated 22.7% of total passengers, translating into a growth of 49.8% compared to the same period last year.
This comparative study covered all airports in mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores: Lisbon, Faro (Algarve), Porto, Madeira (Funchal), Porto Santo, Base das Lajes and the airports in the Azores: Ponta Delgada, Horta, Santa Maria, Flores, Graciosa, São Jorge, Corvo and Pico and even “others” which means private and/or military airports. This document, updated on May 12, 2023, also reveals that during the month of March 2023, the Portuguese airports with the highest number of passengers boarding and disembarking were Lisbon, Faro, Porto, and Madeira.