Azores Airlines A321neos are set to operate from mainland Portugal for the first time.
Azores Airlines is expanding its transatlantic network during the northern summer season with the launch of three nonstop services from Porto using its fleet of Airbus A321neo aircraft.
At present, the carrier provides 11 routes to various North American destinations, all originating in the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal in the mid-Atlantic. The launch of flights from Porto will see the airline operate transatlantic service from mainland Portugal for the first time in more than six years.
According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, flights will connect Porto Airport (OPO) with Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in the U.S., as well as Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Canada.
Service to YYZ will debut on June 1, followed by BOS on June 4, and JFK on June 6. Flights on each of these routes will be available once a week, scheduled on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively.
Azores Airlines already serves Boston, New York JFK and Toronto from Ponta Delgada and Terceira, as well as offering flights to JFK from Funchal, Madeira. The routes from OPO will mark the carrier’s first transatlantic flights from mainland Portugal since ending operations to BOS and YYZ from Lisbon in October 2017.
Although frequencies on the three new routes are limited at once a week, the airline’s schedule from Ponta Delgada and Terceira to Porto will allow for one-stop options.
The airline will be seeking to tap into leisure demand given that Portugal is a popular vacation destination for North American travelers. While Spain, the UK and France took the top three spots as the leading countries of origin among international visitors in Portugal in 2022, the U.S. ranked fourth with 1.5 million overnight visitors during the year.
The latest schedules filed with OAG for summer 2024 show that Azores Airlines will be the sole carrier to link Porto with Boston. However, TAP Air Portugal and United Airlines intend to fly OPO-Newark daily, while Air Transat will also offer a 4X-weekly service from YYZ.
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