June air traffic falls as Pico bucks regional trend

Azores airports recorded 243,803 arriving passengers in June 2026, down 6.9% from the same month in 2025. The Regional Statistics Service of the Azores reported 18,182 fewer arrivals across the archipelago.

All three flight segments declined. Inter-island services brought in 111,936 passengers, a 3.6% fall; connections with mainland Portugal and Madeira accounted for 89,476 arrivals, down 10.8%; and international flights carried 42,391 arriving passengers, 7% fewer year on year. Even so, inter-island flights remained the largest source of arrivals, representing 45.9% of the total.

Departures followed the same direction. A total of 236,026 passengers left from Azorean airports in June, 6.8% below the previous year. Passenger numbers fell on inter-island, domestic-territorial and international services, pointing to a broad-based monthly slowdown in air travel.

Pico was the only island to post growth in arriving passengers, rising 3.7% year on year. Every other island recorded a decrease, with the sharpest falls in Flores and São Jorge. São Miguel received 138,270 arrivals, or 56.7% of the regional total, followed by Terceira, Faial and Pico.

June forms part of a softer first half of the year: 969,734 passengers arrived in the Azores between January and June, an annual decline of 8.5%. Arrivals in the second quarter were down 10.4%, a significant signal for transport links, inter-island mobility and the tourism economy that relies on air connections.