“Our total number of places in Madeira will exceed 1.1 million, compared to 600,000 before the pandemic”, said the general director of Madeira, José Lopes.

The official stressed that it was “a wide offer, with many tourists coming, at affordable prices”, indicating that in this phase of recovery “it is important to continue to improve the quality/price ratio”.

José Lopes indicated that the objective is to have “50% more flights below 50 euros” to the airport, mentioning that for March there are tariffs between 15 and 60 euros, which allows passengers to resume the “habit of flying” and return to pre-pandemic levels.

The official indicated that there should be a focus on “destinations like Madeira, which are further away from war scenarios, and are more attractive”.

This will be an “atypical year”, he maintained, adding that for easyJet, 2023 “will be historic not only in Portugal, but in particular in Madeira”.

“In the case of Madeira, we are going to have a year where we will be operating at record levels. Last year we already had our best year ever, even in the middle of the pandemic, this year we will continue to strengthen our capacity”, he reinforced.

The general director mentioned that in terms of total capacity, the operator is “now operating in Madeira, annually 80% more than before the pandemic”.

According to José Lopes, “this summer, easyJet will operate more than twice as much as it did in the last summer before the pandemic, with a 105% increase in capacity”.

“We want to be the most loved company of Madeirans”, he stressed.


Contribution


The regional secretary for Tourism and Culture spoke of “easyJet's contribution to Madeira, which is not just on the set of routes, nor just on national routes”.

“The offer we have today in terms of national connection is very important, and this has a direct effect on residents”, he indicated.

For Eduardo Jesus, the low cost of fares constitutes “a fundamental change in what was the paradigm” in the last five years, when it seemed that Madeirans “were almost condemned to travel at 400 and 500 euros”.

“And it is this effort on offer by the companies that allows us to carry out this tariff practice that not only greatly benefits the resident” but allows an increase in visitors from the mainland.

The island official recalled that, “in 2022, there were 520,000 people who came from mainland Portugal to spend their holidays or came to Madeira”, which represents “approximately twice the population of the region”.

“There is great value here in two domains. First, for the resident, because he is effectively traveling at prices that are much lower than before. Second, it opens a door for the national market, a proximity market, so that they can carry out their holidays in Madeira”, he argued.