The SREA report on air passenger traffic specifies, “In May 2026, 186,824 passengers disembarked at airports in the Azores, showing a negative variation of 12.7% compared to the same month of the previous year.”

This is the fifth consecutive month in which the number of passengers disembarking by air in the Azores has declined year-on-year. This trend follows similar declines recorded between September and November.

In the last two months, during which the low-cost airline Ryanair ceased operating in the Azores, the year-on-year decrease in disembarking passengers became more pronounced, exceeding 12%.

Looking at flight types, inter-island flights saw the highest passenger traffic at Azores airports in May, with 81,790 arrivals, accounting for 43.8% of the total.

Domestic flights

Meanwhile, 76,751 passengers disembarked on domestic flights (from Madeira and the mainland) (41.1%), and 28,283 passengers on international flights (15.1%).

Compared with May 2025, the reduction was more pronounced among passengers on flights from Madeira and the mainland (17.6%) and from abroad (16.3%).

Inter-island flights also experienced a decrease in the number of passengers disembarking, though the reduction was more moderate, at 6.1%.

Corvo, the smallest island in the Azores, was the only one to show an increase in passenger numbers (27.5%) compared to May 2025.

Largest decrease

The largest decrease occurred on the island of São Miguel (-16.3%), followed by Terceira (-9.6%), São Jorge (-8.8%) and Flores (-8.2%).

On the island of Santa Maria, the decrease was 7.3%; on Faial, 4.7%; on Graciosa, 3.9%; and on Pico, 2.9%.

With 108,302 passengers, the island of São Miguel, the largest in the archipelago, accounted for 58% of the total landings in the region, followed by the islands of Terceira, with 38,355 passengers (20.5%), Faial, with 12,779 (6.8%) and Pico, with 10,170 (5.4%).

Regarding the number of passengers boarding at Azores airports, it reached 184,184 in May, 12.3% less than in the same month of 2025.

In this case, too, the decrease was less pronounced in inter-island flights (5.3%), which totalled 82,664.

On territorial flights, 76,225 passengers boarded, 18.3% less than in the same period last year, and on international flights, 25,295 passengers boarded, 14.3% less.