Surging Passenger Traffic Strains Portugal’s Airports After Record Summer

Portugal’s airports have rarely felt busier. From Faro’s sun-seeking queues to the late-night rush at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado, the country handled nearly 50 M passengers in the first eight months of 2025, 4.9 % more than during the same stretch last year. Economists see the numbers as further evidence that tourism is no longer just a seasonal boost but a year-round engine for jobs, tax revenue, and new routes. At the same time, planners warn that the surge places fresh pressure on aging infrastructure, particularly around the capital.

A summer that shattered assumptions

Charter carriers, low-cost giants and flag-carrier TAP all squeezed additional frequencies into the peak season, pushing August alone past 8 M airport users for the first time on record. Faro grew fastest – +9.3 % – as algarvian resorts benefitted from a longer British school holiday and a favourable pound-to-euro rate. Porto followed with +6.1 %, helped by an influx of German city-break traffic that increasingly skips Lisbon altogether. Even Madeira, traditionally constrained by runway limits, recorded its busiest ever July thanks to smaller Airbus A220 jets that can operate in hotter conditions.

Who is flying – and from where?

Roughly 86 % of all passengers were international, underlining the importance of tourism to Portuguese exports. The United Kingdom remained the top source market, but Spain leapfrogged France into second place after several new Iberia and Vueling shuttles. Brazil contributed a smaller slice than in 2024 – a result, analysts say, of high airfares on the transatlantic leg – yet connections to the northeast of the country are scheduled to expand this winter. On the outbound side, Portuguese residents accounted for just 13 % of traffic, suggesting domestic demand still has room to grow if disposable incomes rise.

Lisbon’s capacity pinch grows tighter

Humberto Delgado handled 63 % of the national total, a dominance that continues to alarm regulators. Security queues regularly spilled onto the footbridge over the 2/20 runway in August, reviving calls for the long-debated Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa. The government selected Alcochete as the site late last year, but financing talks between ANA–VINCI and the state remain sensitive; construction is unlikely to begin before 2027. In the interim, slot controls at Lisbon were tightened for winter 2025/26, prompting Ryanair to move two aircraft to Porto and easyJet to shift capacity toward Madeira.

Tourism spillovers across the economy

The INE estimates that every extra 1 M arrivals add €470 M to GDP once hotels, restaurants, and transport are counted. That multiplier matters: in the first half of 2025 tourism receipts already covered Portugal’s entire goods-trade deficit for March. Employment has mirrored the upswing; Algarve hotel operators say they are hiring well into November, extending the season by an average of 18 days compared with 2019. However, unions at ground-handling firm Portway caution that accelerated schedules are testing workplace safety, citing a spike in ferimentos on baggage ramps.

A winter of opportunity – and constraints

Airlines have filed requests for 5.2 % more seats this winter than last, betting on Portugal’s mild climate and a weaker euro to keep northern Europeans travelling. The biggest growth comes from North America, where TAP, United and Air Canada plan a record 57 weekly flights to Lisbon and Porto. Yet until new runways are built, the country’s aviation fortunes hinge not only on appetite for travel but on the ability of existing terminals to process it. For travellers this means an early check-in; for policymakers, it is a reminder that popularity brings its own set of challenges – ones that cannot be solved in the departure lounge alone.