This new route between Ponta Delgada and Faro was launched on Sunday by Azores Airlines, as part of the flights that the company is beginning to operate from June and which also included connections between North America and Porto and Funchal, and between Azores and Italy.

The new operations began last Saturday (June 1st), with the start of direct operations between Toronto (Canada) and Funchal (Madeira) and, the following day, the connection between New York (United States of America) and the Porto, and also between Ponta Delgada (São Miguel) and Faro, said the SATA group in a statement.

The Azorean company also announced that, on Tuesday (June 4th), it will begin operating direct connections between Porto and Boston (United States of America) and between Boston and Funchal, on Wednesday (June 5th) it will the connection between Ponta Delgada and Milan (Italy) begins and, on Friday (June 7th), it will be the turn to start direct flights between Toronto and Porto.

“Algarve Tourism is confident that the new Azores Airlines operation, which connects Ponta Delgada to Faro, will bring good prospects for strengthening the Algarve's relationship with the US market [United States of America] and Canada, in addition to providing greater connectivity to the region in terms of the internal market”, said Turismo do Algarve in a statement.

The Azores Airlines flight between Ponta Delgada and Faro thus constitutes a “key piece in the promotion strategy that Turismo do Algarve has defined for the US and Canadian markets”, highlighted Turismo do Algarve.

“With the increased demand for indirect connections to the Algarve that has been registered, as a result of the growing interest of North Americans in this destination, this new route brings promising perspectives for strengthening the region's relationship with these markets”, he added.

The Azores Airlines operation between São Miguel and Faro will also represent, for the “Algarve, viable connections, via Ponta Delgada, to destinations such as the United States (Boston and New York, JKF), Canada (Toronto and Montreal) and Funchal, from June to October this year”.

“This greater air connectivity to the North American continent thus opens up new opportunities for the region, as the expectation of a greater number of tourists from the USA and Canada travelling to the Algarve, stopping in the Azores, is high”.

At the same time, the “connection between the Algarve and the island destinations of the Azores and Madeira is strengthened”, highlighted Turismo do Algarve.