Air passenger numbers almost back to pre-pandemic levels

  • Lusa
  • 16 November 2022

Portugal's airports in September handled 63.1% more passengers compared to the same month in 2021 but 1.0% less than in September 2019.

Portugal’s airports handled 5.9 million passengers in September, an increase of 63.1% compared to the same month in 2021 and 1.0% below September 2019, the “smallest difference compared to pre-pandemic levels”, INE reported today.

“In September 2022, domestic airports handled 5.9 million passengers and 18.4 thousand tonnes of cargo and mail, corresponding to year-on-year changes of +63.1% and +9.9%, respectively,” said Statistics Portugal (INE) in the ‘Rapid Air Transport Statistics’.

Compared to September 2019, the best national tourist year and before the pandemic, which severely affected aviation, passenger movement decreased by 1.0%, “corresponding to the smallest difference compared to pre-pandemic levels”, and the movement of cargo and mail increased by 4.0% (-1.9% and +12.5% in the previous month, respectively).

In the month under review, there was average daily disembarkation of 97,200 passengers at national airports, which compares with 99,400 in the previous month, approaching the figure observed in September 2019 (98,300).

Between January and September 2022, the number of passengers handled increased by 171.5% compared to the same period in 2021 but decreased by 8.2% compared to the same period in 2019.

The United Kingdom was the main country of origin and destination of flights, with a growth of 326.8% in the number of passengers disembarked and 338.4% in the number of passengers embarked, which INE justifies with the closure of the air corridor between Portugal and the United Kingdom for much of the same period in 2021.

France occupied the second position, with year-on-year increases of 144.6% in passengers disembarked, and 145.4% in passengers embarked, while Spain occupied the third position as the main country of origin and destination.