According to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the beginning of 2024 continued to see historic highs in monthly passenger numbers at national airports, with the third month of this year recording an average daily disembarkation of 86.5 thousand passengers, a higher value than that recorded in March 2023 (80 thousand; +8.2%).

In March 2024, 82.2% of passengers disembarked at national airports corresponded to international traffic, reaching 2.2 million passengers (+9%), the majority coming from the European continent (68.4% of the total), corresponding to an increase of 7% compared to March 2023. The American continent was the second main origin, concentrating 9.2% of the total passengers disembarked (+25%).

Regarding boarded passengers, 81.4% corresponded to international traffic, totalling 2.1 million passengers (+9.3%), with the main destination being airports on the European continent (68.7% of the total), recording a growth of 7% compared to March 2023. Airports on the American continent were the second main destination for embarked passengers (8.7% of the total; +27%).

According to INE, “the daily movement of aircraft and passengers is typically influenced by seasonal and weekly cycle fluctuations. The highest daily values are generally found in the summer period and Saturday was, last year, the day of the week with the highest number of passengers disembarking”.

In the first quarter of 2024, the number of passengers moved increased by 5.9% to 13.6 million passengers, which corresponds to an additional 756 thousand passengers, and an increase of 54.3% compared to the 8.3 million passengers of the same period, but from 2022.


Main countries

Considering the volume of passengers who disembarked and boarded international flights in the first quarter of 2024, France was the main country of origin and destination for flights, despite having recorded decreases in the number of passengers who disembarked and boarded compared to the same period in 2023 (- 2.4%; -2.6%). The United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany occupied the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions, respectively, as the main countries of origin and destination. Brazil ranked 5th as the main country of origin and Italy as the main country of destination.

In the first quarter of 2024, Lisbon airport handled 55.1% of total passengers (7.5 million), +5.5% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Porto airport handled 23% of total passengers (3.1 million) and increased by 7.3%, while Faro's airport infrastructure registered a growth of 7.5% (1.2 million) passengers.

It should also be noted that, in March 2024, 18.2 thousand aircraft landed at national airports on commercial flights, corresponding to an increase of 2.1% compared to the same period in 2023.