In the middle of the Atlantic lies the Azores archipelago, nine islands each with its own airport. The Azores are about two hours' flight from Lisbon and Porto, with links to several European cities and, in some seasons, North America; inter-island connections are run by the regional airline SATA Air Açores, while Azores Airlines, from the same group, flies to the mainland and abroad.
Ponta Delgada, São Miguel
The main airport is Ponta Delgada, on São Miguel, the archipelago's largest city. Opened in 1969 in the Nordela area, it is named after Pope John Paul II, in memory of his visit to the Azores on 11 May 1991. It is the main gateway for passengers and freight for the whole archipelago, with a runway of about 2,500 metres, and has been expanded several times to cope with the boom in tourism after low-cost airlines arrived in 2015: it now handles over two million passengers a year. It is served by TAP Air Portugal, Azores Airlines, Ryanair, easyJet and several seasonal airlines.
The airport is about 3 kilometres from central Ponta Delgada: a taxi costs a few euros, and there is also a bus service. To explore the island it is best to hire a car at the airport.
Other airports
- Lajes, on Terceira: built as an air base during the Second World War, it is still a Portuguese military base also used by the United States, with a civilian terminal for scheduled flights; it is about 20 kilometres from Angra do Heroísmo.
- Santa Maria: built by the Americans in 1944, it was for years a key stop for transatlantic flights and still houses the air traffic control centre for a vast area of the Atlantic.
- Horta, on Faial, a few kilometres from town, also the gateway to Pico island, reachable by ferry.
- Pico, Flores, São Jorge, Graciosa and Corvo: small airports served mainly by SATA inter-island flights, some with direct flights to Lisbon.
Tips
Weather in the Azores changes quickly and fog and wind can cause delays or cancellations, especially on the smaller islands such as Flores and Corvo: leave some slack in your connections. In summer, ferries between the central group islands add to the flights. To discover the archipelago see our guide to the Azores, and for other airports the page on Portuguese airports.