According to a statement by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, the airports in Lisbon and the Azores are seeing an increase in traffic at a rate of 3.1 percent for the first two months of the year, but that is down 5.2 percent when compared to the first two month of 2010.

Air traffic for passengers also increased by 1.4 percent in February to a total of 1.44 million passengers compared to the same month in 2010 when there were 1.42 million passengers.

Overall, January and February 2011 compared to January and February 2010, registered an increase of 5.1 percent passenger numbers, with traffic from low cost airlines increasing by 12.2 percent.  Most passengers travelled between Portugal and France, Spain, Switzerland and Italy.

Seasonal direct flights from the UK to the Azores islands resumed this past Saturday (April 2).  SATA International will operate flights from either Gatwick Airport or Manchester Airport to Ponta Delgada in São Miguel, every Saturday, for the entire summer season, extending until the end of October.