Madeira Airport Statistics 2026: Fastest-Growing at +12% in 2025, Third in 2026, and the Wind Nobody Counts

Three counts for one airport

Eurostat counts 5,390,975 passengers carried at Funchal in 2025. DREM, Madeira's statistics office, publishes the same airport at about 5.4 million and adds Porto Santo to reach 5,636,100 passengers for the region, excluding transit, up 11.8%. ANA's report on regulated charges, published on 20 May 2026, counts 5,641,201 terminal passengers across both airports. VINCI Airports, ANA's owner, reports a single "Madeira" line that also covers both.

The "+12%" in our planning title therefore fits Funchal alone (+12.2%) and the regional total rounded (+11.8%). It describes 2025. The growth was foreign: DREM put international passengers at 3,179,300 (+17.4%) and domestic passengers at 2,474,100 (+5.4%). Those two figures sum to 5,653,400, slightly above DREM's regional total, because the bulletins use different bases.

Porto Santo has three counts of its own: DREM 256,700 (+3.6%), Eurostat 243,856 and ANA 248,196 terminal passengers. Any comparison should stay inside one source. Our Madeira tourism statistics article found the same problem in accommodation, where DREM's 12.9 million nights include units that the national survey leaves out.

Is Funchal the fastest-growing gateway?

On 2024 to 2025 growth, yes, and by a wide margin. Funchal rose 12.2%, Porto 6.4%, Faro 5.9% and Lisbon 3.0%. Six small Azorean airports grew between 3.8% and 5.4%, and Porto Santo grew 4.5% on Eurostat's count. No other Portuguese airport came within five points of Funchal.

On growth since 2019 the answer is also yes, with a caveat on size. Funchal is up 67.8%. Pico in the Azores is up 66.0%, but from 142,307 passengers, and Flores is up 54.0% from 74,242. Among airports above a million passengers Funchal is far ahead: Porto rose 28.3%, Lisbon 15.7% and Faro 14.3%. In absolute terms Funchal added 2,177,950 passengers, about 16% of everything Portugal's airports added in six years, more than Faro added on an airport almost twice its size. Our national airport traffic analysis tracks the full fifteen-airport table.

In 2026 the answer is no. VINCI's nine-month release on 19 October 2026 gave Porto +7.1%, Faro +3.7%, Madeira +3.0%, Lisbon +0.7% and ANA's four Azores airports −8.0%. Madeira's months have been modest throughout: +4.3% in January, +2.3% in March, +2.2% in April, −0.5% in June and +3.7% in an August that still set a monthly record of 606,200 passengers. Porto has been growing faster in every quarter, and our Porto airport statistics article found it supplying about two-thirds of national growth this year.

Against other island airports, Funchal's 2025 growth was matched by Malta (+12.3%) and the two Cypriot airports combined (+12%). The eight Canary Islands airports grew 3.6% in 2025 and fell 0.2% in January–August 2026; Palma grew 1.5%. Over 2019–2025 Funchal outgrew all of them, at 1.8 times Malta's rate and three times the Canaries'.

From a flat decade to a record

The longer series shows how new Funchal's growth is. The airport carried 2,233,838 passengers in 2010 and 3,204,293 in 2017. It then stalled: 2019 added 0.8%, and the two years from 2017 to 2019 added 8,732 passengers in total. Faro grew about 9% a year over the same period.

After the pandemic the trajectory changed. Traffic doubled in 2022 (+104.1%) as Ryanair opened a two-aircraft base that summer, then rose 18.5% in 2023, 4.8% in 2024 and 12.2% in 2025. The airport passed five million passengers in a calendar year for the first time on 25 November 2025, according to ANA.

Most of the extra passengers came on extra flights. DREM counted 23,656 commercial movements at Funchal in 2019 and about 35,900 in 2025, up about 52%, while passengers per movement rose from 135.5 to about 150. Load factor was 85.5% in 2025, down from 87.1% in 2024, then climbed to 92.0% in August 2026, the highest of the months reported this year.

Funchal is also one of Europe's least seasonal leisure airports. August 2025 carried 1.65 times January's passengers. Our Faro airport statistics article measured 4.37 times at Faro and 14.27 times at Heraklion. Madeira fills its winter with northern European long stays and, from November to April, with cruise passengers who arrive by sea and do not appear in these counts.

Who flies to Madeira

ANA counted 26 airlines linking Madeira with 65 destinations in 24 countries in November 2025, after 12 new routes opened that summer. The regional government's Air Transport Observatory gives the clearest view of who carries the traffic. In August 2025 Funchal offered 298,749 seats, up 20.95% on August 2024. easyJet held 25.81% of them, TAP 18.57% and Ryanair 12.39%, so three airlines supplied 56.8% of capacity.

Ryanair's history at Funchal shows how sensitive the island is to one carrier. It opened a base in summer 2022 with two aircraft and ten routes, promising $200 million of investment. In January 2024 it cut the base to one aircraft, blaming a proposed 7.92% rise in ANA's charges. It restored the second aircraft in 2025 with routes to Milan, Shannon and Edinburgh, and its August 2025 seats were up 69.56%. Reports differ on whether a third aircraft is based there this winter. Shannon and Belfast leave the Madeira network for winter 2026/27.

easyJet has no base on the island but is its largest airline. It first flew to Funchal on 29 October 2007 and in 2026 operates 15 routes from Funchal plus two from Porto Santo, with about 1.5 million seats (the press gives +5% and +6%) on about 8,000 flights. Claims that Madeira is easyJet's biggest Portuguese market do not hold: easyJet carries more than 10.5 million passengers a year in Portugal, most of them through its Lisbon, Porto and Faro bases.

TAP is the second airline and the main domestic one. It flies Funchal–Porto 19 times a week in 2026 (+34%) at about 85% load factor, added Funchal–Faro in June 2025 and keeps it year-round, and trims Lisbon capacity this winter. Long-haul service is thin. United returned for a second Newark season on 16 May 2026 with three weekly Boeing 737 MAX 8 flights, after 47 flights in each direction in 2025. Azores Airlines dropped its New York, Boston and Toronto links in 2025 and added a weekly Terceira–Funchal service that becomes year-round on 25 October 2026. Arkia began flights from Tel Aviv on 22 September 2026.

Among international passengers the United Kingdom led in 2025 with 27.1%, ahead of Germany (21.0%), France (9.7%) and Poland (9.5%). The order held in January–August 2026 (UK 26.7%, Germany 19.8%, France 10.8%, Poland 9.1%, Netherlands 6.5%). Poland is a winter market: it had 13.2% of international passengers in January–February. On nights the order differs: Germany led in 2025 with 19.4% against the UK's 16.8% (DREM).

What it costs an airline to land

Madeira is expensive for airlines by Portuguese standards. ANA collected €13.44 in regulated charges per terminal passenger at the two Madeira airports in 2025 (€75,810,975 over 5,641,201 passengers, derived). That is 56% more than Porto (€8.62) and Faro (€8.59) and below only Lisbon airport on its own (€15.35). Madeira has no separate price cap: it sits in a Lisbon group with the Azores and Beja, whose authorised cap was €14.652 per passenger.

The published 2026 passenger charge at Funchal is €17.13 per departing Schengen passenger, €1.09 more than Lisbon's €16.04 and almost twice Porto's €9.26. Non-Schengen passengers pay €21.36, and a passenger flying between Madeira and Porto Santo pays €13.77. ANA froze Madeira's charges for 2026 (0.0%) and has proposed no change for 2027, while Porto and Faro are set to rise by about 3.8%. The national €2 carbon tax does not apply to flights to Madeira or from Madeira to the rest of Portugal; on the 2021 wording, international departures from the island are not exempt.

The wind limits

Funchal's runway runs along a cliff-backed coast exposed to strong, gusty winds. NAV Portugal's aeronautical publication, in the edition valid from 1 October 2026, sets landing limits by wind direction: 15 knots with gusts to 25 from 300° to 010°, 20 knots with gusts to 30 from 020° to 040°, and 25 knots including gusts from 200° to 230°. Take-off limits are 20 to 25 knots with no gust limit. "Compliance with operating limitations is mandatory": when the limits are exceeded no landing clearance is given.

Crews need specific preparation. The publication requires captains to have at least 200 hours in command on the aircraft type before training, an ANAC-approved programme in a simulator or on the line, a landing or simulator session at Funchal every six months, and daylight experience at the airport before flying there at night.

No authority publishes how often the limits stop flights. The best available summary came from Regional Secretary Eduardo Jesus at the travel agents' congress on 3 December 2025. Passengers affected by wind averaged 12,630 a year in 2005–2014 and 84,430 a year from 2015, an increase of 568%. The average episode lengthened from two days to six, and 80% of diversions happened with wind no more than three knots above the limit. The series breaks in the year new anemometers were installed, so part of the increase may come from measurement. In May 2026 the Secretary of State for infrastructure told Parliament that mean wind at the airport had risen about three knots in ten years, and asked IPMA and LNEC to investigate.

The limits have been under review for years without a result. The European Commission backed keeping them in 2019. A ministry working group in 2021 recommended a radar and LIDAR wind-detection system, which NAV delivered in December 2024 at about €3.5 million and switched on operationally from 10 November 2025 for a one-year test. ANAC said in 2023 that a decision could come in 2026 at the earliest. The regional government wants five knots more on the strictest limit. In February 2026 ANA told the regional parliament that two ANAC working groups expected to report by the end of 2026. The October 2026 publication still carries the old limits.

The cost of disruption has been estimated only once. A University of Madeira study sent to the regional parliament in January 2022 put it at €34.06 million a year in lost regional output and €7.05 million in lost tax, on the assumption that 20% of disrupted passengers never return. Hoteliers report direct losses, and the PortoBay group said in July 2026 that tour operators were discussing whether to suspend Madeira programmes in 2027. Diverted flights go to Porto Santo, the Canary Islands or back to Lisbon, Porto, Faro or their origin. ANA's chief executive told regional deputies that Porto Santo is not a workable alternative for most flights because of crews, fuel and onward transport.

Whether wind explains the 2026 slowdown cannot be tested without monthly disruption data. The pattern fits in places: March grew only 2.3% after Storm Regina disrupted the airport for two days. It does not fit everywhere: June fell 0.5% with no major storm reported, and DREM recorded 2.4% fewer movements that month.

A runway on pillars and a terminal past its design

The airport opened in July 1964 with a 1,600-metre runway, extended to 1,800 metres in 1986. The extension inaugurated on 15 September 2000 added a 1,020-metre section built over the sea on 180 pillars, up to about 60–70 metres high, and holds a Guinness record as the longest bridge-supported runway extension. IABSE lists it among its 2004 Outstanding Structure Award recipients. FlightGlobal put the whole project, including a new terminal, at $420 million in 2000.

The headline length of 2,781 metres is the total paved length. The aeronautical publication declares runway 05/23 as 2,481 by 45 metres, with 2,631 metres available for take-off; the extra 150 metres at each end are pavement before the thresholds. Landing aircraft have 2,481 metres.

The terminal opened in 2002. ANA's €11 million works in 2016 raised processing capacity from 720 to 1,400 passengers an hour and added three gates and seven security lanes. No annual design capacity has been published; the 3.5 million figure in the Infopédia encyclopaedia, if accurate, has been exceeded since 2022. Funchal is a fully coordinated (slot) airport, and its entry in the aeronautical publication warns of an aircraft-parking shortage and requires operators to request a stand in advance. Night flights are banned from midnight to 06:00 except under a quota of 31 a day and 80 a week.

ANA plans to spend €687 million on its ten airports in 2026–2028, of which €57 million (8.3%) is for Madeira, against the airports' 7.8% share of ANA's 2025 passengers (derived). The breakdown is unpublished. Announced works include check-in and gates, border equipment for the EU Entry/Exit System, solar panels and a €3 million fuel-storage expansion from 560 to 1,300 cubic metres by 2029.

Residents, fares and the mobility subsidy

About 42% of Funchal's 2025 passengers flew domestic routes, to mainland Portugal, Porto Santo or the Azores. That domestic share mixes island residents, Portuguese tourists and foreign visitors connecting through Lisbon; DREM does not publish a resident split.

Residents and students fly to the mainland under a subsidy created by Decree-Law 134/2015 and now called the Territorial Continuity Mechanism. A government working group reported in September 2024 that it cost €45.0 million for Madeira in 2023, up from €6.0 million in 2014. It reached 82,000 beneficiaries, about a third of the population, who made about 186,000 return trips; the average subsidy was €216 per return, and residents made 89% of the subsidised trips. No cost for 2024 or 2025 has been published.

The rules changed three times in fourteen months. From 3 April 2025 a resident pays at most €79 for a mainland return and a student €59, down from €86 and €65. Decree-Law 1-A/2026 moved reimbursement to an online platform in January 2026. Parliament then removed the €400 ceiling on the eligible fare: Lei 23/2026 was published on 1 June and took effect on 6 June 2026. easyJet warned in April that removing the ceiling would push fares up "artificially" and might lead it to reduce domestic capacity. The regional tourism secretary said 94% of fares were already below €400, so the ceiling affected few trips. At 2023 volumes the April 2025 cut saves residents about €1.2–1.3 million a year (derived); the State's cost under the new rules has not been estimated.

Porto Santo, the second airport

Porto Santo has a 3,000-metre runway shared with the Portuguese Air Force, longer than Funchal's, and about 250,000 passengers a year. It is a summer airport: DREM counted 366 movements in July 2025 and 142 in February, and 83.7% of its passengers fly domestic routes. Binter has flown the public-service route to Funchal since 2018 and holds a three-year contract worth about €5 million from 19 October 2024 for two daily round trips. easyJet flies to Lisbon and Porto.

Most island-to-island travel is by sea: the Funchal–Porto Santo ferry carried 405,800 passengers in 2025 (+0.1%, DREM). ANA relaunched the tender for a new Porto Santo terminal in June 2026, after the 2024 tender failed with bids 65% over budget; works are planned for 2027–2029 and would raise aircraft stands from three to six. On 12–13 September 2026 eight flights diverted from Funchal landed there in one day, and dozens of passengers slept in the terminal because the island's hotels were full.

Ten claims tested

The panel below tests ten statements about the airport. Two come from our own files: the "+12%" in this article's planned title, which holds only for 2025, and the subsidy date in our Madeira tracker, which was the publication date and not the date the law took effect.

What this means for travelers, businesses and analysts

Travelers. Madeira is well connected from most of western Europe, but wind can close the airport for a day or more with little notice, most often in winter storms and in strong summer trade winds. Avoid tight onward connections and non-refundable onward travel on departure day, check that your insurance covers weather disruption, and expect a diversion to Porto Santo, the Canaries or your origin if conditions change on approach. The airport is about 13 kilometres east of Funchal. Traffic peaks in August and is lowest in January, but the gap is small, so winter fares and flight choice are only modestly better. Our Madeira travel guide covers where to stay and how to get around.

Tourism businesses and investors. The 2025 surge was capacity-led: low-cost seats grew fast after Ryanair's base and easyJet's expansion, and 2026 shows how quickly that can slow once the network is built out. Three airlines hold 57% of summer seats, and Ryanair has already cut and restored its base once over charges. Madeira's charges are frozen for 2026, with no change proposed for 2027, but per passenger they are the highest in ANA's network outside Lisbon. The binding constraints are physical: stands, a terminal running well past any published design figure, and wind limits that remove days of capacity each year. The decisions to watch are ANAC's wind-limit review (promised for the end of 2026), the new mobility-subsidy cost, Ryanair's winter 2027/28 plans and the cruise season, which fills the winter months by sea.

Journalists and analysts. Citable figures: 5,390,975 passengers at Funchal in 2025 (Eurostat, +12.2%); 5,636,100 at both Madeira airports (DREM, +11.8%); 4,490,000 in January–September 2026 (VINCI, +3.0%); +67.8% since 2019; €13.44 in regulated charges per passenger (ANA, 2025); €45.0 million mobility-subsidy cost in 2023. Do not describe Funchal as Portugal's fastest-growing airport in 2026, call it one of the world's most dangerous airports, cite a single cancellation total for Storm Emília without a range, or give the subsidy ceiling's end as 1 June. The series finding this article adds: Madeira measures its cruise passengers twice and its hiking trails by booking slot, yet nobody measures how many flights the wind stops.