Azores government contracts Ryanair to promote region in UK, Germany

The government of the Azores has signed two contracts with Ryanair, worth two million euros, to promote the region in the United Kingdom and Germany, the regional secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism announced on Wednesday.

“The contracts with Ryanair are already signed. The action plan is being recalculated, given the pandemic. This is happening both for the United Kingdom and Germany,” Marta Guerreiro told reporters on the sidelines of the regional parliament’s work in the city of Horta, on the island of Faial.

The holder of the Tourism portfolio considered that the United Kingdom and Germany “are two important markets” for the Azores, and that “this relationship with Ryanair makes it possible to guarantee tourist flows in the future to both Ponta Delgada and Terceira.”

Marta Guerreiro said that two flights a week from London to the Azores are planned, with three in the high season, two to Ponta Delgada and one to Terceira.

The regional secretary also announced that the operator will maintain flights between mainland Portugal and the autonomous region, thus putting an end to speculation that it would end the route to Terceira.

“As a result of the work carried out with the government and with Tourism of Portugal, it was possible to maintain the conditions, under the Economic Revitalization Plan for Terceira Island and the pandemic scenario, for Ryanair to continue operating from Terceira to the mainland, six times a week, as it did before, four times to Lisbon and two times to Porto,” she said.

Marta Guerreiro said that flights are already available for booking, as of January, at the low-cost operator’s site, considering that its connections with that island “have indeed had an important impact on economic development.”