“In September 2022, national airports handled 5.9 million passengers and 18.4 thousand tons of cargo and mail, corresponding to year-on-year variations of +63.1% and +9.9%, respectively”, says the National Statistics Institute (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 from pre-pandemic levels”, and the cargo and mail movement increased by 4.0% (-1.9% and +12.5% ​​in the previous month, respectively).

In the month under review, there was an average daily arrival of 97,200 passengers at national airports, compared to 99,400 in the previous month, approaching the value 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.

UK market

The United Kingdom was the main country of origin and destination of flights, with 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 UK for much of the same period in 2021.

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