easyJet Adds Funchal–Nice Route, Boosts Lisbon & Porto Summer 2026 Flights

Flying south for a summer break may become a little easier for residents in Portugal next year. easyJet will add a fresh dash of orange to Madeira skies, link Lisbon and Porto more tightly with the Atlantic and even tempt holiday-hungry travellers to Glasgow or Liverpool—all part of a larger seasonal push the carrier is calling its “Summer ’26 Atlantic lift.” Below you will find the essentials of what is changing, why it matters for Portuguese travellers, and the ripple effects industry watchers are already debating.

Why Madeira scored the headline slot

Madeira’s tourism board has been lobbying for stronger ties with mainland Europe ever since the pandemic slump. The new Funchal–Nice link answers that call by adding a direct corridor between the island and the Côte d’Azur—two regions whose visitor profiles overlap in their love of mild winters, hiking trails and gastronomic breaks. easyJet insiders say demand models showed a “double-digit upswing” in French bookings to Madeira as soon as border restrictions eased; converting that interest into a point-to-point service was “a no-brainer.” Local hoteliers agree: each fully occupied flight injects an estimated €120,000 into the archipelago’s economy, from taxi fares to tasting-menu splurges.

Inside the timetable

• Start-date: 6 June 2026

• Frequency: 2 weekly flights—Tuesdays & Saturdays

• Aircraft: A320neo, 186 seats

• Lead-in fares on easyJet.com: €39.99 one-way (hand-luggage only)

The schedule has been slotted around easyJet’s existing London–Madeira operation, enabling same-plane rotations that keep costs low and reliability high. Departure from Funchal is timed for late morning, arriving in Nice in time for an early Provençal lunch; the return leaves France mid-afternoon, neatly missing Madeira’s notorious evening wind shear.

What it means for tourism and business

Madeira’s regional government hopes the extra seats will help smooth out shoulder-season dips. By attracting short-break French travellers who traditionally flock to the Azores or Canary Islands, the island expects to lift 2026 arrivals by 3 %. Travel agents in Nice, meanwhile, are packaging “Atlantic long weekends” starting at €449 per person including flights and three nights in a boutique hotel in Funchal’s Old Town.

Cruise lines are also watching the route. Several operators have hinted at adding Nice–Madeira–Canaries repositioning cruises, capitalising on the new air link to sell fly-cruise bundles. The hospitality lobby is cautiously optimistic but warns that infrastructure—especially airport ground transport—must scale up swiftly.

Lisbon & Porto: the bigger picture

The Madeiran announcement is part of a broader 28.7 M-seat summer schedule easyJet has loaded into its booking engine. For mainland Portugal the headlines are:

Lisbon

• Daily links to Sal (Cabo Verde) from 1 April 2026

• Twice-weekly runs to Glasgow (from 29 March) and Liverpool (31 March)

Porto

• Four flights a week to Sal and twice-weekly services to Boa Vista and Praia (all launching first week of April)

Industry analysts view the Cape Verde push as a shot across TAP’s bow: easyJet is moving from pure leisure play into markets with a sizeable diaspora component, where year-round demand is more resilient.

Traveller cheat-sheet

Booking tip: Tuesdays on the Funchal–Nice run are pricing 15 % below Saturdays in early searches.Baggage watch: A cabin-bag-only fare is genuinely cheap, but adding a 23 kg suitcase can double the ticket price—factor that into comparisons with legacy carriers.Eco angle: The A320neo deployed on the route burns up to 20 % less fuel than previous-generation jets, shaving roughly 0.7 tonnes of CO₂ per round trip.

Looking further out

Ryanair’s March 2026 exit from the Azores leaves the archipelago exposed, yet easyJet says it has “no immediate plans” to return. Instead the airline is concentrating on “routes that can sustain at least a twice-weekly pattern and deliver break-even in Year 1.” For now, Madeira, Cabo Verde and a handful of British regional cities meet that bar.

Still, aviation consultants argue that the Azores gap could become too tempting to ignore if local authorities revise airport fees. easyJet’s director for Southern Europe noted last month that the carrier “remains open to dialogue.” In practical terms, that means São Miguel enthusiasts should keep an eye on the carrier’s Winter 26/27 timetable.

Bottom line? A cocktail of new seats, sharper prices and diversified destinations is brewing for Summer ’26. For travellers living in Portugal, that translates into more direct options and healthier competition. For Madeira’s hoteliers, it could mark the difference between a good season and a record-breaking one.