At airport management company, ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, the positive fortunes of the country are clear to see. The Portuguese business group responsible for the management of airports in Mainland Portugal, in the Azores and Madeira, as well as facilities in other countries, handled 38.9 million passengers across its Portugal network in 2015, up 11.4 per cent on the previous year. All airports within the ANA Group reported record annual results during 2015.
In a deal to complete a long-awaited fleet renewal at PGA Portugália, which has been delayed for a number of years due to investment limitations, TAP will replace its current fleet of ATR turboprops, Embraer ERJ145s and Fokker 100s on a like-for-like basis with eight ATR 72s and nine Embraer 190s.
Monarch will introduce flights to Lisbon from the start of May with a three times weekly link from London Gatwick from May 3, 2016 and a three times weekly service from Manchester from May 5, 2016. Madrid will be added to its network from June 17, 2016 with the start of a four times flight from Birmingham, which will be followed just days later by a new four times weekly link between Birmingham and Lisbon.
United currently has 22 787s in its fleet and will receive three more before the end of this year. These include a mix of 787-8 and larger 787-9 variants which allow the carrier to fit the right-sized aircraft to its existing and new markets. The aircraft is being used at San Francisco International Airport to support the growth of United hub operation from where it provides nearly 280 daily flights to more than 90 destinations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.
From December 17, 2015, the airline will launch the weekly link to Rotterdam - Europe’s largest cargo port, operating every Thursday, with immediate connections to Sao Vicente, Praia and Boa Vista.
Vueling’s latest uploaded schedules show the Airbus A321 entering scheduled service on July 3, 2015 operating a morning return rotation on the Barcelona – Nantes route. The same day the aircraft will operate from Barcelona to Brussels and back and then in the evening to Granada and back before operating an overnight flight to Moscow.
The ANA airport group which is responsible for the management of airports in Mainland Portugal including Lisbon, Porto, Faro and the Beja civilian terminal, as well as airports in the Azores and Madeira Autonomous Regions, recorded a growth of 9.5 percent in commercial passenger traffic in 2014 compared to the previous year.
The Government of the Azores has been working to protect local residents while creating conditions for the entry of new operators into the market, as they can generate added value to the region. For a long time flights from the Azores to both Lisbon and Porto have been restricted to being flown by local airline SATA and Portugal flag carrier TAP Portugal, both state controlled.
This year’s route successes at Lisbon Airport are already having an impact on its traffic performance. In its latest traffic results for August 2014 passenger demand rose 15.2 per cent to 1.96 million to bring year to date numbers above the 12 million passenger threshold.
In 2004, airlines offered 7.7 million seats from Lisbon Airport but this rose to just under ten million seats last year, a 27.7 per cent rise. This year, based on existing published schedules, the airport will surpass the ten million figure for the first time with capacity set to rise 7.8 per cent.
The airline, backed by businessman Ovidiu Tender, who runs a group of geological, oil and gas exploration and tourism companies, recently revealed plans to launch its own scheduled operations in Romania under the Fly Romania operational brand and this African contract further diversifies and expands its product offering.
