Key takeaways
- ANA's four Azores airports carried 2.516 million passengers in January–September 2026, 8.0% fewer than a year earlier, while ANA's Portuguese network grew 2.4% and Porto 7.1% (VINCI Airports, 19 October 2026).
- Since Ryanair's last flight on 29 March 2026 only TAP and Azores Airlines fly between the Azores and mainland Portugal; Ponta Delgada passengers fell 14.7% in April 2026, the first full month without Ryanair (Eurostat).
- Ponta Delgada carried 2,767,090 passengers in 2025, 2.82 times its 2014 level, the last year before the mainland routes were liberalised on 29 March 2015 (Eurostat).
- Ponta Delgada's five North American routes carried 324,436 passengers in 2024, 47% more than in 2019 and about 82% of its non-EU traffic; Azores Airlines is the only carrier flying them year-round (Eurostat, derived).
- Azores Airlines lost €53.9 million in 2025 and €37.1 million in the first half of 2026; five bidders must make binding offers by 9 December 2026 for at least 75% of it, ahead of the EU deadline of 31 December.
- The Azores mobility subsidy cost €81.3 million in 2023, €454 per return passenger and €336 per resident, almost twice Madeira's €179; Lei 23/2026 removed the eligible-fare ceiling from 6 June 2026 (working-group report; Diário da República).
- The Region paid SATA Air Açores €42.8 million in rebalancing for November 2024–October 2025 on top of a €140 million five-year inter-island concession; the 2027–2031 tender has a €249.75 million base price.
- Ryanair's claims of a 120% rise in air-traffic charges and a €12 tax are not supported: NAV's national terminal rate is €171.57 in 2026 (+5.1%), and mainland–Azores flights are exempt from Portugal's €2 carbon tax.
In January–September 2026 ANA's ten Portuguese airports carried 2.4% more passengers than a year earlier. Its four airports in the Azores carried 8.0% fewer, 2.516 million, while Porto grew 7.1% and Madeira 3.0% (VINCI Airports, 19 October 2026).
The explanation starts with a short list. Since Ryanair's last Azores flight on 29 March 2026, only two airlines connect the islands with mainland Portugal: TAP and Azores Airlines. The second belongs to the Regional Government through the SATA group, lost €53.9 million in 2025 and must be sold, at least 75% of it, by 31 December 2026 under a €453.25 million EU state-aid decision. Five bidders have until 9 December to submit binding offers. Their names are secret.
Behind the airlines sits a public bill. On the latest figure for each line, the residents' mobility subsidy (€81.3 million in 2023), the inter-island concession with its rebalancing payment (about €71 million for November 2024–October 2025), the €61 Tarifa Açores (€13.0 million in 2025) and the mainland public-service routes (about €10 million a year) add up to roughly €175 million a year, or about €730 per resident. That total mixes years and is our derivation. No official figure exists.
Our Azores tourism statistics article covered what the Ryanair exit did to nights and hotels. This article covers the seats themselves: who flies, from where, at whose expense, and what happens to the islands' own airline in the next ten weeks.
Two airlines to the mainland
The Lisbon and Porto routes to Ponta Delgada and Terceira were opened to any airline on 29 March 2015. Ryanair and easyJet arrived the same spring. easyJet left in October 2017, saying it could not operate two daily flights profitably, and told ECO in November 2025 that it has no short- or medium-term plan to return. Ryanair stayed ten years, flying Ponta Delgada to Lisbon, Porto, London and Brussels and Terceira to Lisbon and Porto.
On 20 November 2025 Ryanair announced it would close all six routes, about 400,000 seats or passengers a year by its own count. It blamed ANA's airport charges, air-traffic charges it said had risen 120%, Portugal's travel tax and EU emissions costs. The Ministry of Infrastructure replied the same day that the national terminal air-traffic rate had fallen from about €180 in 2023 to €163.30 in 2025 and that ANA's Azores passenger charge had stayed at €8.14 since 2024. It did not contest the 120% figure. NAV's published rate rose 5.1% to €171.57 in 2026, the same rate Lisbon, Porto and Faro pay.
Ryanair's chief executive told Jornal de Negócios on 29 January 2026 that a return in summer 2027 would need the environmental taxes revoked and ANA's charges cut by about half, and that no talks were under way. No change of position has been reported since.
The effect is visible in every series. Eurostat counts 210,747 passengers at Ponta Delgada in April 2026, 14.7% fewer than in April 2025, the first full month without Ryanair. VINCI's Azores figures fell 11% in the second quarter and about 6.4% in the third (derived from its cumulative releases). The regional statistics office SREA counted 81,318 passengers landing from the mainland and Madeira in September 2026, 12.4% fewer than a year earlier, the ninth monthly fall in a row in total disembarkations.
TAP and Azores Airlines have added flights. TAP opened Porto–Terceira on 29 March 2026. Azores Airlines adds 16 weekly mainland flights for winter 2026/27, taking it above 100 a week between the islands and Lisbon and Porto. Neither airline, ANA nor the tourism board has published how many seats replaced Ryanair's. Fares have become the complaint instead: on 11 September 2026 the Ponta Delgada chamber of commerce asked the Competition Authority to examine Lisbon–Ponta Delgada returns above €500 in some periods, close to double Lisbon–Funchal, while stating that it alleged no collusion. The Authority itself warned in May 2026 that closer ties between TAP and SATA could reduce competition.
Both remaining carriers are in sale processes at once. The State is selling up to 44.9% of TAP, a process covered in our TAP privatisation analysis, and the Region is selling at least 75% of Azores Airlines. The two already codeshare and jointly hold the mainland public-service contract.
The liberalisation decade
Ponta Delgada carried 982,548 passengers in 2014, the last year of the protected regime, and 2,767,090 in 2025, 2.82 times as many. The first year of open routes added 29.4%. By 2019 the airport had passed two million, and after the pandemic it set records in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Most of that growth was domestic in volume and international in rate. Between 2019 and 2025 Ponta Delgada's domestic passengers rose 26.3% to 2,139,681 and its international passengers 74.0% to 627,409. Intra-EU traffic almost tripled, from 78,708 to 235,547, as German, Austrian, Swiss, Dutch and Czech carriers added summer routes. International traffic peaked in 2024 at 632,955 and slipped 0.9% in 2025, so the slowdown predates the Ryanair announcement.
The mainland trunk routes run full. In 2024 Lisbon–Ponta Delgada carried 934,111 passengers on 5,593 flights at an 86.2% load factor, and Porto–Ponta Delgada 340,183 at 92.4%, the highest of any Azores route in Eurostat's tables (load factors derived from passengers on board and seats). Lajes on Terceira, which ANA does not run, carried 1,003,800 passengers in 2025, 96% of them domestic.
Ponta Delgada is more seasonal than it was. Its busiest month carried 2.64 times its quietest in 2019 and 2.81 times in 2025, with growth concentrated in April–September. That places it between Funchal (1.65 times) and Faro (4.37 times). In January–April 2026, before the summer schedules started, passengers were already 9.1% below the same months of 2025.
The North American link
The Azores are the one Portuguese region where North America is a near market. Eurostat's route tables, which stop at 2024, record 324,436 passengers between Ponta Delgada and five North American airports that year: Boston, New York JFK, Newark, Toronto and Montreal. That is 47% more than in 2019 and about 82% of the airport's traffic outside the EU (derived). Adding Terceira's Boston and Toronto routes gives roughly 355,000 two-way passengers (derived, mixing carried and on-board counts).
| Route | Passengers 2019 | Passengers 2024 | Seats 2024 | Load factor 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponta Delgada–Boston | 111,950 | 107,172 | 145,743 | 87.3% |
| Ponta Delgada–Toronto | 75,763 | 97,556 | 116,253 | 85.6% |
| Ponta Delgada–New York JFK | 32,364 | 70,649 | 96,600 | 73.6% |
| Ponta Delgada–Montreal | – | 27,102 | 36,218 | 74.8% |
| Ponta Delgada–Newark (United) | – | 21,957 | 32,307 | 68.0% |
| Lajes (Terceira)–Toronto | – | 15,849 | 25,422 | 63.0% |
| Lajes (Terceira)–Boston | 17,964 | n/a | 22,434 | 67.6% |
| Ponta Delgada, five routes | 220,077 | 324,436 | 427,121 | 81.2% |
Seats grew faster than passengers. The five Ponta Delgada routes offered 427,121 seats in 2024 against 263,142 on three routes in 2019, a 62% rise, while the combined load factor moved only from 80.1% to 81.2% (derived). Boston and Toronto filled better; JFK fell to 73.6% and United's Newark route to 68.0%.
Azores Airlines is the only carrier that flies the US routes year-round. Its summer 2026 schedule had more than 50 weekly flights to Boston, Toronto, New York and Montreal, and it sold all four for November 2026–February 2027 at €399 return from Lisbon, Porto or Faro via the islands. United has flown Newark–Ponta Delgada each summer since 14 May 2022 with a 166-seat 737 MAX 8 and will add Newark–Terceira three times a week from 9 June to 5 September 2027. TAP flies San Francisco–Terceira weekly in summer since June 2025. Delta flew JFK–Ponta Delgada in 2018 and 2019 only. Air Canada and WestJet each added three weekly Toronto flights in summer 2026.
The demand behind these routes is part diaspora and part tourism. SREA counted 490,115 American nights and 232,239 Canadian nights in Azores lodging in 2025; the US was the largest foreign market in 2024 and second to Germany in 2025. Our US vs Spain source-market analysis found the Azores to be the region where Americans hold their largest share of foreign nights in INE's survey. Boston–Ponta Delgada is 3,866 km and scheduled at about five hours.
Europe beyond Portugal is a summer market. In summer 2026, 16 airlines linked the Azores with 12 countries, according to the regional government. Lufthansa, Edelweiss and Eurowings returned, Austrian added a weekly Vienna–Ponta Delgada flight for 11 weeks from 30 June, and Transavia has announced Brussels–Ponta Delgada for summer 2027. Azores Airlines' own European routes are thinner: it dropped Milan and Bilbao for 2026 and suspends Paris, Barcelona and Frankfurt for winter 2026/27, keeping North America, the mainland and Praia in Cape Verde. In Eurostat's partner table Spain (72,177 passengers in 2025) and Germany (49,551) lead Ponta Delgada's European markets; the UK does not appear in that table.
SATA: one owner, two airlines, one deadline
The SATA group runs two airlines. SATA Air Açores flies between the islands under a regional concession; it carried 1.05 million passengers in 2025 and lost €6.4 million on €139.6 million of revenue. Azores Airlines flies to the mainland, Madeira, Europe and North America; it carried 1.6 million passengers, 4.6% fewer than in 2024, at an 82% load factor, and lost €53.9 million on €307.7 million. The two lost a combined €82.8 million in 2024. Group debt stood at €386.5 million at the end of 2025, and the group weighed €68.9 million on the regional deficit that year.
In the first half of 2026 Azores Airlines lost €37.1 million, carried about 701,000 passengers (−7.7%) and cancelled 249 flights, 104% more than a year earlier, at an estimated cost of €4 million. Passenger revenue rose 4.4%, consistent with higher fares on fewer seats.
The sale obligation comes from the EU restructuring decision of 7 June 2022, which approved €453.25 million of aid on condition that the Region sell a majority of Azores Airlines. A first tender was cancelled in May 2024. A second closed without a sale on 6 March 2026 after the government judged the Atlantic Connect Group's €17 million offer for 85% to carry unacceptable risks. On 23 December 2025 the European Commission had already extended the deadline to 31 December 2026, rejecting Portugal's argument that the delays had external causes and ordering SATA to repay €3 million to the State by the same date.
The third attempt is a direct sale under terms approved on 22 May 2026: at least 75% of Azores Airlines, no collective dismissals for 30 months, historic debt left with SATA Holding, and SATA's ground-handling company sold separately. Eight parties expressed interest by 6 September, six qualified, five submitted non-binding offers on 21–22 September, and on 14 October all five were invited to make binding offers by 9 December. SATA's chairman confirmed in May that talks with the Canary Islands airline Binter had taken place; whether Binter is among the five is not public.
Meanwhile the Region keeps guaranteeing the group's borrowing: €85 million in 2025, €25 million in January 2026 and €55 million approved on 28 July 2026. The Socialist opposition calculates that guarantees now exceed what Brussels authorised by €157.5 million, a partisan calculation. In July 2025 the government said a failed sale would mean insolvency at a possible cost above €300 million. It has not repeated that estimate in 2026.
Who pays for the seats
Four streams of public money keep the islands connected, and none is published as part of a total.
| Line | Payer | Amount | Period | Per resident (derived) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobility subsidy (mainland and Madeira tickets) | Portuguese State | €81.3M | 2023 | €336 |
| Inter-island concession, base price | Regional Government | ≈€28M | a year, Nov 2021–Oct 2026 (€140M ÷ 5) | ≈€116 |
| Inter-island rebalancing payment | Regional Government | €42.8M | Nov 2024–Oct 2025 | ≈€177 |
| Tarifa Açores (€61 inter-island return) | Regional Government | €13.0M | 2025 | ≈€54 |
| Mainland public-service routes | Portuguese State | ≈€10.4M | a year, 2026–2031 (€62.5M ÷ 6) | ≈€43 |
| Total, mixed years (derived) | ≈€175M | ≈€727 |
The mobility subsidy reimburses residents for mainland and Madeira tickets above a fixed out-of-pocket amount. The Azores bill grew from €9.9 million in 2014 to €81.3 million in 2023, when 78,273 residents claimed for about 171,000 return trips. The average subsidy per return passenger was €454, more than twice Madeira's €216, and the Azores cost per resident was €336 against €179 (derived). The government working group that reported in September 2024 found the average Azores subsidy per passenger up 34% between 2021 and 2023.
The rules have changed four times in two years. An eligible-fare ceiling of €600 was introduced in September 2024 after the Court of Auditors warned that without one there was no incentive to buy cheaper tickets. Residents' own share fell to €119 return (€89 for students) on 3 April 2025. Decree-Law 1-A/2026 moved claims to a digital platform from 15 January 2026 and allowed one-way claims at €59.50. Then Parliament passed Lei 23/2026, in force since 6 June 2026, which removed the eligible-fare ceiling for Azores and Madeira flights and renamed the scheme the Territorial Continuity Mechanism. Two weeks later the platform was still applying ceilings, and the cost of the change has not been estimated. A scheme with no ceiling, two mainland airlines and fares above €500 places the risk of higher fares on the State budget rather than on residents.
Inside the archipelago the Region pays twice. SATA Air Açores holds the inter-island concession signed in September 2021 for €140 million over five years, about €28 million a year, but passenger numbers ran about 82% above the design assumptions, and the Region has paid rebalancing amounts of €13.8 million, €24.4 million, €31.5 million and, for November 2024–October 2025, €42.8 million. The tender for 2027–2031 opened on 11 June 2026 at a base price of €249.75 million, about €50 million a year; bids closed on 11 August and no award has been announced. Separately, the Tarifa Açores caps residents' inter-island returns at €61: it cost €13.0 million for 386,023 trips in 2025, against a 2026 budget cap of €10 million.
The national State pays for the thin mainland routes. Lisbon–Horta, Lisbon–Pico, Lisbon–Santa Maria and Funchal–Ponta Delgada are public-service routes, and Funchal–Terceira was added in 2026. A 2023 tender worth €45 million over five years failed; the reprogrammed contract is worth €62.5 million for 2026–2031, and the SATA–TAP consortium was the only bidder.
A fifth instrument is still empty. Decreto Legislativo Regional 12/2026/A of 18 June 2026 created an Azores air-routes development fund that can pay airlines for new routes or added capacity for up to five years, on a tapering scale, with priority for airlines that do not yet serve the islands and with North American markets eligible. The decree sets no budget: spending depends on the regional plan, Turismo de Portugal and EU funds, and no payment can be made before the European Commission clears the scheme. As of August 2026 the fund was still being set up and no route had been awarded. Tourism businesses have asked for a €20 million promotion budget. Ground handling is the next cost to move: SATA's handling company lost an estimated €6.25 million in 2025 and is to be sold, with a public-service compensation of about €6 million a year planned.
The network inside the network
Half of the people landing at Azores airports in September 2026 had flown from another island. SREA counted 115,360 inter-island disembarkations that month, up 0.4%, against falls of 12.4% from the mainland and 7.0% from abroad. The inter-island share rose from 42.9% of disembarkations in 2024 to 49.4% in September 2026.
| Origin | 2024 | 2025 (derived) | Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 vs Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inter-island | 992,705 | ≈1,037,400 | 115,360 | +0.4% |
| Territorial (mainland and Madeira) | 982,363 | ≈999,100 | 81,318 | −12.4% |
| International | 340,027 | ≈338,000 | 36,972 | −7.0% |
| Total | 2,315,096 | 2,374,585 | 233,650 | −5.6% |
The smaller islands are growing while São Miguel shrinks. In September 2026 disembarkations rose 8.2% on Flores, 8% on Graciosa, 5.9% on Pico and 1.5% on Faial, and fell 8.5% on São Miguel. Measured as airport passengers per resident in 2025, Flores (33.4) and Corvo (30.4) are more aviation-dependent than São Miguel (20.8) or Terceira (18.9); each inter-island trip is counted at both ends, so these ratios measure airport activity rather than trips.
The busiest inter-island pair, Ponta Delgada–Lajes, carried 255,839 passengers on 4,230 flights in 2024, about 60 per flight. Weather can halve the network in a day: a storm on 10 February 2026 cancelled 34 of SATA Air Açores' roughly 50 scheduled flights.
Runways, charges and fog
Four operators run the nine airports. ANA runs Ponta Delgada, Horta, Santa Maria and Flores; SATA's airfield company runs Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Corvo; Lajes is a Portuguese Air Force base whose civil terminal the Regional Government manages. Lajes therefore sits outside ANA's statistics, which is why ANA's Azores total of about 3.3 million in 2025 is 1.4 million below Eurostat's nine-airport count (see our Portugal airports passenger traffic report).
Two runways limit what can land. Horta's runway is about 1,600–1,700 m depending on the measure; a 2022 government working group put the cost of an extension to at least 1,797 m of take-off run at €66 million, and on 12 October 2026 Horta council delivered ANA a preliminary design for 2,050 m, without a cost. Pico's runway is to be extended by 690 m to 2,345 m for about €24 million by the end of 2029, with EU funding sought. At Ponta Delgada ANA has spent about €10 million on a first phase and plans to double the terminal in stages to 2030; no cost has been published.
Charges are low. ANA collected €8.07 in regulated charges per Azores passenger in 2025, less than at any of its other airport groups. Flights between the mainland and the Azores are exempt from Portugal's €2 carbon tax in both directions under Portaria 38/2021. Santa Maria's oceanic en-route rate, €8.16 per service unit in 2026, is a fifth of Lisbon's €41.85.
Weather is the cost no one publishes. Fog disrupted Ponta Delgada on 30–31 May 2026, affecting 175 flights and more than 17,000 passengers according to Lusa, and SATA hired aircraft from DAT and GetJet to clear the backlog. Neither ANA, SATA nor the regional government publishes an annual count of weather cancellations or diversions.
Against Portugal's other gateways
Set beside the other ANA gateways, the Azores combine the lowest airport charges with the only 2026 decline and the highest public cost of access. Madeira, the nearest comparison and the subject of our Madeira airport statistics report, charges airlines two-thirds more per passenger and kept its low-cost carriers.
Two conclusions follow. Airport charges alone do not explain Ryanair's exit, since Madeira's are higher and Ryanair added seats there in 2025. And the Azores' access model depends more on public money than on airline competition: the subsidy per resident is almost twice Madeira's, and the inter-island network costs the Region more each year than its concession price.
Ten claims tested
Ryanair's exit set off a contest of figures, and the subsidy reform added more. We tested ten, including two errors in our own files.
What this means for travelers, businesses and analysts
Travelers. From the mainland there are now two choices, TAP and Azores Airlines, from Lisbon and Porto to Ponta Delgada and Terceira; book early, since Lisbon–Ponta Delgada returns have topped €500 in some periods. From North America, Azores Airlines flies Boston, New York, Toronto and Montreal all year, United adds Newark in summer (and Terceira from June 2027), and Air Canada and WestJet add Toronto in summer. Allow a buffer day before an onward long-haul flight: fog at Ponta Delgada affected 175 flights in two days in May 2026, and inter-island flights cancel in storms. Our Azores travel guide covers which island to base yourself on.
Tourism businesses and investors. The binding constraint is seats, not airport capacity: Ponta Delgada's mainland routes ran at 86–92% load factors in 2024 and the terminal is being doubled. Underwriting assumptions should treat summer 2027 mainland capacity as unknown until three events: the Azores Airlines sale (binding offers 9 December, deadline 31 December), any award under the new route fund created by Decreto Legislativo Regional 12/2026/A, and the 2027–2031 inter-island concession. A low-cost return would show first in Porto–Ponta Delgada, the fullest route. A failed sale would put the islands' North American network at risk, since no other airline flies it in winter.
Journalists and analysts. Citable: Ponta Delgada 2,767,090 passengers in 2025 (Eurostat); ANA Azores −8.0% in January–September 2026 (VINCI); SREA disembarkations −7.1% in January–September 2026; Ponta Delgada–North America 324,436 passengers in 2024 (Eurostat, derived); mobility subsidy €81.3 million in 2023, €454 per return passenger. Do not repeat Ryanair's 120% air-traffic increase or €12 tax, the four-hour Boston flight, the January 2026 date for the €119 fare, or a €600 ceiling as current law. The series finding this article adds: the Azores are the only Portuguese gateway to shrink in 2026, and the islands' access depends on two public airline contracts and a subsidy whose ceiling was removed in June, none of which is reported as a single cost.
Data & sources
Period covered: 2010–September 2026
- Eurostat avia_paoa · Annual and monthly passengers by Azores airport, 2010–April 2026, with national, intra-EU and extra-EU split. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Eurostat avia_par_pt · Route-level passengers, seats and flights for Ponta Delgada and Lajes, 2019–2024. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- VINCI Airports traffic releases · ANA Azores traffic for H1 and January–September 2026. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- SREA via Lusa (RTP) · September 2026 disembarkations by origin and island. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- SREA via Lusa (Dinheiro Vivo) · 2025 disembarkations and growth by flight type and island. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Government working group on the mobility subsidy · Azores and Madeira subsidy cost, beneficiaries and average subsidy, 2014–2023. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Diário da República: Lei 23/2026 · Removal of the eligible-fare ceiling for Azores and Madeira flights, in force 6 June 2026. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Government of Portugal: DL 1-A/2026 · Digital platform and one-way claims from 15 January 2026. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- ECO · Inter-island concession history and 2027–2031 tender; Azores Airlines sale steps. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- ECO: binding-offer phase · Five bidders invited to submit binding offers for Azores Airlines by 9 December 2026. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Observador/Lusa · Tarifa Açores cost and trips in 2025. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Executive Digest/Lusa · Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores H1 2026 results. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Jornal de Negócios · SATA airlines' 2025 results. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- NAV Portugal eAIP GEN 4.2 · Terminal and en-route unit rates for 2026, including Santa Maria. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Sábado/Lusa: Ministry of Infrastructure reply to Ryanair · Government figures on ANA and air-traffic charges in the Azores. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
- Observador/Lusa: summer 2026 airlines · 16 airlines and new Air Canada, WestJet and Austrian routes to the Azores. Accessed 19 Oct 2026.
Methodology
This article draws on Eurostat's airport (avia_paoa) and route (avia_par_pt) tables retrieved on 19 October 2026; VINCI Airports' traffic releases for ANA's Azores airports; the Azores regional statistics office (SREA) as reproduced by Lusa in RTP, Dinheiro Vivo and Jornal Económico; the government working group report on the mobility subsidy (September 2024); Diário da República (Lei 23/2026, DL 1-A/2026, Portaria 38/2021) and the Jornal Oficial dos Açores (Resolution 21/2026, Decreto Legislativo Regional 12/2026/A); NAV Portugal's aeronautical publication; ANA's regulated-revenue report for 2025; and company results and sale-process reporting in ECO, Observador, Jornal de Negócios, Executive Digest and Açoriano Oriental.
Limitations: (1) INE's website was not reachable, so INE figures come through Eurostat or press reproductions. (2) Eurostat route data end in 2024 and monthly airport data in April 2026. (3) SREA tables are published as images; 2025 values by flight type are derived from 2024 levels and published growth rates. (4) No airline, ANA or public body publishes seat capacity for the mainland routes after Ryanair's exit. (5) The bidders for Azores Airlines and their offers are confidential. (6) Public spending lines come from different years and are combined only as an indicative total.
Contested figures are reported with both values and the source of each. Airline and government statements are labelled as such and tested against published rates and law. Derived figures (load factors, per-resident costs, quarterly VINCI values, the North American totals and the public-money total) are marked as derived where they appear. Two errors in our own series tracker, the start date of the €119 resident fare and the label of the €163–€376 subsidy figure, are corrected in the claims table.
Notes on the data
Data gaps: no official seat count for mainland–Azores routes since April 2026; no Eurostat route data for 2025 or monthly airport data after April 2026; no total of US or Canadian passengers to the Azores (Eurostat's partner table lists only European countries); no annual weather-cancellation series for any Azores airport; no Azores mobility-subsidy cost after 2023 (a national €91.9 million for 2024 from IGF/ANAC via Público is on a different basis from the Court of Auditors' €126.2 million for 2023 and is not compared); no cost estimate for removing the eligible-fare ceiling; no amount or award for the regional route fund; no published cost for the Horta runway at 2,050 m or the Ponta Delgada terminal expansion.
Contested: Ryanair's 400,000 is reported as seats and as passengers; Horta runway length is given as 1,595–1,700 m depending on the measure; Pico's current runway is 1,580 m (SATA) or 1,655 m (derived); whether ANA's 'about €80 million' 2026–2028 investment for 'Porto and the Azores' is each or combined is unclear; the mainland public-service contract (€62.5 million, SATA–TAP consortium) rests on one Lusa report; Azores Airlines' fleet is nine aircraft (company) or ten (secondary sources); the Socialist claim that guarantees exceed EU authorisation by €157.5 million is a partisan calculation.
Claims that failed: Ryanair's 120% air-traffic charge rise (no baseline) and €12 tax (not found; mainland–Azores flights are exempt from the €2 carbon tax); 'four hours from Boston' (about five); our own tracker's January 2026 date for the €119 fare (3 April 2025) and 'per trip' label for €163–€376 (per resident or beneficiary).
Derived: route load factors; North American totals (324,436 and about 355,000); VINCI Q1 and Q3 2026 values (±0.5 points); SREA 2025 split by flight type; per-resident and per-beneficiary costs; the €175 million public-money total and €727 per resident, which mixes 2023, 2025 and 2026 figures; airport passengers per resident by island (Census 2021 populations).
Self-reported: Ryanair's seat and charge figures; Azores Airlines' schedules and fleet; the chamber of commerce's fare observations; SATA's estimate of cancellation costs; the government's 2025 statement that a failed sale would cost over €300 million.
Frequently asked questions
Which airlines fly from mainland Portugal to the Azores in 2026?
Only TAP and Azores Airlines, from Lisbon and Porto to Ponta Delgada and Terceira, plus public-service routes from Lisbon to Horta, Pico and Santa Maria. Ryanair stopped flying to the Azores on 29 March 2026 and easyJet left in 2017.
Why did Ryanair leave the Azores?
Ryanair cited ANA airport charges, air-traffic charges it said had risen 120%, Portugal's travel tax and EU emissions costs. The government says ANA's Azores charge has been €8.14 since 2024 and NAV's terminal rate fell to €163.30 in 2025; mainland–Azores flights are exempt from the €2 carbon tax. Ryanair says it would return only if charges were cut by about half.
Can you fly direct from the US to the Azores?
Yes. Azores Airlines flies Boston and New York JFK to Ponta Delgada all year, and Boston to Terceira. United flies Newark–Ponta Delgada in summer and adds Newark–Terceira from 9 June 2027; TAP flies San Francisco–Terceira weekly in summer. Ponta Delgada's North American routes carried 324,436 passengers in 2024.
How long is the flight from Boston to the Azores?
Boston–Ponta Delgada is 3,866 km and scheduled at about 4 hours 55 minutes to 5 hours 5 minutes. Newark–Ponta Delgada takes about 5 hours 35 minutes eastbound. The often-quoted 'four hours' is too short.
Is Azores Airlines being sold?
Yes. The Regional Government must sell at least 75% of Azores Airlines by 31 December 2026 under a 2022 EU state-aid decision. Five bidders were invited on 14 October 2026 to submit binding offers by 9 December; their names have not been published.
How many passengers use Ponta Delgada airport?
Ponta Delgada carried 2,767,090 passengers in 2025, up 2.2% and a record (Eurostat). In January–April 2026 it carried 9.1% fewer than a year earlier. All nine Azores airports together recorded 4,748,645 passenger movements in 2025, counting inter-island trips at both ends.
How much does an Azores resident pay for a flight to Lisbon?
Residents pay €119 for a return (€89 for students) or €59.50 one way, and the State reimburses the rest of an eligible fare. The €119 cap applies since 3 April 2025. Lei 23/2026 removed the €600 eligible-fare ceiling from 6 June 2026, though the claims platform was still applying ceilings in June.
How much does it cost to fly between the Azores islands?
Residents pay €61 for an inter-island return under the Tarifa Açores, which cost the Region €13.0 million for 386,023 trips in 2025. Visitors pay SATA Air Açores' commercial fares; the airline operates under a regional concession that cost €140 million over five years plus rebalancing payments.
Which Azores airport is busiest?
Ponta Delgada on São Miguel, with 2,767,090 passengers in 2025, followed by Lajes on Terceira with 1,003,800 and Horta on Faial with 301,160 (Eurostat). Ponta Delgada handles 58% of all Azores airport passengers.