New routes to Faro airport in the Algarve have been announced for the summer months, with the increase expected to boost the number of visitors coming to the region for summer sunshine holidays.

In total there are to be 11 new routes flying into Faro airport, serving the Algarve, other parts of Portugal and Andalucia in Spain.

The new destinations for the Algarve airport have been announced according to The Portugal News as including “Budapest, Dresden, Gothenburg, Lille, Newquay, Warsaw, Maastricht and Ostend, plus the additional legs on regular flights will contribute towards an approximate growth in seats of 17 percent to and from the region, to an estimated 8.4 million.
The new routes are being introduced ready for the airline industry’s summer season (IATA summer), which runs from 26 March until 28 October.”

The increase in the number of routes now takes the total number of airports connected to Faro up to more than 100, with destinations linked in 20 different countries.

Eleven new routes to destinations including Eastern and northern Europe, and 15 extra regular services are to bump up seats to and from the Algarve’s Faro airport this summer by one million in comparison to last year.

While the new routes offer more choice for travellers, it is still the traditional markets of the French, British and German visitors that continues to drive the majority of the growth.

According to a statement from the airport management company ANA: “The United Kingdom maintains its long-standing relevance and will be connected to the Algarve region by more than 30 Airports.” 

It continued: “With projected growth of 15 percent in the global offer of seats, this market should reach, by the end of the IATA summer 2017, a market share of slightly above 50 percent.”

Desidério Silva, head of the Algarve Tourist Board said “It is with great satisfaction that we welcome the announcement of 11 new routes linking the Algarve to main cities in Europe. 
“The results show that the strategy of attracting routes is bearing fruit. The Algarve is a favourite destination for millions of people around the world, and for it to continue being the choice of many tourists, it is fundamental to invest in the constant improvement of accessibility.” 

He added: “Serving the destination with international flights will allow us to attract more tourists to the Algarve, so negotiation with operators and airlines continues to be a strategic bet for the Algarve’s Tourism Region.”