The National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals that passenger traffic increased by 1.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, following a 3.9 percent rise recorded during the first quarter.

This surge was fuelled by international travel, with more than 1.7 million passengers flying on transnational routes during the three-month period, up 2.7 percent compared with the same quarter last year.

Domestic travel

Meanwhile, domestic passenger numbers fell by 3.9 percent to around 3.5 million.

This contrast was evident throughout the quarter, as international traffic rose by 3.5 percent in April, 3.9 percent in May and 0.8 percent in June, while domestic traffic declined by 4.3 percent, 2.3 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

The weakest month for overall passenger growth was June, with some 7.1 million passengers passing through Portuguese airports that month, representing a marginal 0.2 percent decrease compared with June 2025.

April saw 6.6 million passengers, an increase of 2.1 percent, while May recorded its highest figure of the quarter, with 7.11 million passengers, up 2.9 percent.

Busiest traffic

By far, Lisbon Airport remained the busiest in the country, accounting for 46 percent of all passenger movements during the quarter.

Around 9.6 million passengers travelled through the capital, 0.2 percent fewer than during the same period last year.

However, these figures varied considerably across the three months, as passenger numbers reached 3.1 million in April, up 1.3 percent, before rising slightly to 3.3 million in May, an increase of 0.5 percent, while June dropped 2.3 percent to 3.2 million.

Porto Airport recorded the highest growth among the country’s major airports, handling approximately five million passengers in the second quarter, an annual increase of 6.1 percent.

May was established as the busiest month in Porto, with 1.7 million passengers, up 8.8 percent, followed by April with 1.6 million, while June saw almost 1.7 million, an increase of 3.5 percent.

Furthermore, Faro Airport also continued to post growth throughout the quarter, handing around 3.5 million passengers, 4.3 percent more than in the second quarter of 2025.

At the Algarve Airport, passenger numbers rose from more than one million in April to 1.2 million in May, an increase of 5.6 percent, while June was the busiest month, with almost 1.3 million, up 3.2 percent.

Archipelago infrastructure

Madeira Aiport handled approximately 1.5 million passengers during the quarter, 2.4 percent more than a year earlier, as April and May both exceeded the 500,000 mark, rising by 2.5 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.

However, June fell below that threshold, with passenger traffic down 11 percent.

Ponta Delgada was the fifth busiest airport, handling 704,500 passengers, but recorded the sharpest decline among the main airports, with traffic down 12.9 percent year-on-year.

The Azores Airport experienced falling passenger numbers in each month of the quarter, with April down 14.6 percent, followed by a 16.3 percent decline in May, and an 8.5 percent drop in June.

Aircraft landings

As reported by INE, the number of aircraft arriving at Portuguese airports also edged upwards during the second quarter.

A total of 70,218 aircraft landing were recorded, 0.3 percent more than in the same period of 2025.

Towards the end of the quarter, the growth in aircraft movements slowed, as April and May recorded increases of 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, before landings fell by 1 percent in June.

Rail transport

The INE figures also showed that almost 63 million passengers travelled by rail during the second quarter.

Suburban services accounted for the majority, carrying around 51.5 million passengers, an increase of 4.4 percent year-on-year.

Intercity rail services recorded more than 11.3 million passengers, representing a significantly stronger annual increase of 15.6 percent, while international rail travel remained comparatively small, with around 24,000 during the quarter, down 7 percent on the previous year.