“On April 16, Blue Air, a Romanian low-cost company, adds two very important new routes in Portugal: Porto and Madeira,” the manager of Portuguese airports, ANA, said in a statement.

In Porto, Blue Air debuts with a weekly operation until the 21st of June and, from that date, will have two weekly flights.

Growing demand

According to ANA, since 2010, traffic between Porto and Romania has grown by around 10% a year “and the demand for the first flights indicates a growing demand” that the airport manager hopes will be “a great success”.

In Madeira, the company will have a weekly operation during the summer, which represents a new air carrier for the archipelago with regular connections to Romania, after a first connection in the summer of last year, but in a 'charter' operation.

For ANA, these new connections “are important for tourism, with Portugal asserting itself as a quality tourist destination, and Bucharest a European capital gaining visibility”, as well as for the family and friends travel segment, and may also “constitute new business opportunities, especially in the northern region”.

Blue Air started operations in Portugal on March 28, 2008, with the Bucharest – Lisbon route, which it continues today, and operated the Turin (Italy) – Lisbon route between 2017 and 2019.