In May a total of 49,343 passenger disembarks were recorded by sea, on five islands in the archipelago, according to data available on the SREA page.

Compared to the same month in 2023, in which 46,723 passengers disembarked, there was an increase of 2,620 passengers, equivalent to 5.6%.

The rise comes after two consecutive months of declines compared to the same period last year.

In March and April, workers at Atlânticoline, a public company that transports passengers by sea in the Azores, went on strike.

In the accumulated value of the first five months of the year, there are 156,777 passengers, 11,360 (6.8%) fewer than in 2023.

In low season, there are only passenger sea connections in the Azores between the islands of the Triangle (Faial, Pico, and São Jorge) and between the two islands of the western group (Flores and Corvo).

Pico Island, which has several daily connections to Faial, was the island that registered the highest passenger movement in May, with 22,571 disembarkations, 4.7% more than in the same period last year.

Faial recorded similar figures, with 21,787 passengers disembarking, an increase of 4.8% compared to May 2023.

The island of São Jorge, which also has daily connections to Pico and Faial, registered an increase of 13.2%, accounting for 4,566 landings.

The island of Flores, which only has boat trips to the island of Corvo, increased the number of landings from 172 to 218 (26.7%) in May, while Corvo went from 174 to 201 (15.5%).

In the accumulated value of the first five months of the year, all islands registered decreases, with the exception of the island of Flores, which had an increase of 10.7% in landings.

Since 2020, the seasonal operation of Atlânticoline, which connected all the islands of the archipelago (with the exception of Corvo), with larger ships, between May and September, has been suspended.

In the high season months (from June to September), there are now only maritime connections between the islands of the central group (Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial) and between Flores and Corvo.