Aircraft that passed through the Region’s airports had a drop of 0.5%.
Passenger movement at airports in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (Madeira and Porto Santo) increased by 5.7% in March, compared to the same period last year, to 414.5 thousand, according to data from the Regional Directorate of Statistics (DREM).
The number of aircraft passing through the Region’s airports fell by 0.5%, to 2,779 aircraft (commercial flights).
In March, each aircraft, considering landings and take-offs, transported, on average, around 155 passengers (146 in March 2023), at Madeira airport, and at Porto Santo it was 72 passengers (59 in the same month).
“In March, the movement of domestic and international passengers at the region’s airports recorded positive year-on-year variations in international traffic (+3.1%) and in the domestic segment (+8.8%). At Madeira airport, international traffic (52.6% of the total) predominated compared to domestic traffic (47.4% of the total). At Porto Santo Airport there was a prevalence of domestic traffic (58.6% of the total), but with a smaller disproportion compared to February 2024”, says DREM.
Regular flights at airports in the Region represented 91.4% of the total number of aircraft handled and 93.6% of passengers (93.9% and 95.5% in the same period last year, respectively), highlighted DREM.
“In March 2024, the occupancy of aircraft handled at airports in the Region was around 87.9%, with Madeira airport reaching 88.5% and Porto Santo reaching 72.9%. In the same period last year, occupancy rates were lower, at 82.6%, 83.4% and 60.9%, in the same order”, say data from the regional statistics department.
“In the first three months of 2024, variations in aircraft and passenger movements were -4.6% and +2.1%, respectively. It is also worth noting that there may be a calendar effect in these data, as while Easter, in 2023, took place in April, in 2024, it was celebrated in March”, highlighted DREM.
Between January and March, passengers embarked and disembarked at the Region’s airports reached 1,066.9 thousand, “a half corresponding to traffic exclusively between airports located in the national territory, which includes internal and domestic connections (47.9% of the total in as a whole) and the other international (52.1%). Within the scope of the latter, the United Kingdom was the main country of origin and destination for international flights from airports in the Region (31.1%), followed by Germany (20.9%) and France (5.0%)” , says the regional statistics department.
“In the IATA (International Air Transport Association) Winter, from October 29, 2023 to March 23, 2024, Madeira airport operated commercial flights from 28 airlines (30 in IATA Winter 22/23), with 62 routes (58 in the same period last year) to 56 destinations (53 in IATA Winter 22/23). At Porto Santo airport, commercial flights were carried out on five routes (four in IATA Winter 22/23), from five airlines (four in the same period last year) to five destinations (four in IATA Winter 22/23)”, adds DREM .
