The Algarve concentrates the largest share of direct flights from the United Kingdom to Portugal and maintains Faro as the main gateway for British tourists. In an interview with POSTAL, Pedro Castro, director of , explains why air connectivity is decisive for the competitiveness of the destination, defends improvements in the efficiency of non-Schengen control and considers that TAP has a “marginal” role in the largest issuing market for the country.
The expert also points to the dependence on low cost as an operational advantage, but highlights the need to diversify markets and reinforce connections in other European axes.
Q – What relationship do you see between more direct flights from the UK and greater tourist revenue in Portugal, especially in the Algarve?
R – The United Kingdom was, in terms of tourist revenue, the most important source market for Portugal in 2025, representing almost 15% of total revenue.
Although there is no single, official percentage data that isolates air transport from other means of transport used by British tourists to travel to Portugal, data from Turismo de Portugal and INE on this market suggest that the overwhelming majority travel by plane. This reality makes air capacity measured in the number of routes, destinations and cities served, as well as seat capacity, determining criteria for measuring the competitiveness and accessibility of the destination Portugal for travelers from the United Kingdom. In this regard, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and France – the latter also accessible by train with the Eurostar reaching the beaches of southern France in the summer – all have a greater offer than Portugal and it is natural that these “competing” destinations welcome more British tourists than Portugal.
The relationship that this study establishes is, first of all, to verify where this air capacity is most concentrated in our country – clearly, in the Algarve with more than 45% – and where it practically does not exist: in the Azores. Knowing that this type of short-haul European tourism favors direct flights, it is natural to see a greater concentration of British people in the south of the country. If we want to disperse these tourists throughout the territory, we have to encourage another type of connectivity. On the other hand, this study also intends to highlight the issue of the relevance of TAP as a “tourism vehicle” and put an end to the misinformation in propagandistic discourses. In relation to the main source market and the main destination of this market in our country, TAP is profoundly non-existent and marginal: there is not a single direct flight between the United Kingdom and the Algarve. This story is repeated even when we look at the other most important markets for the country, namely the German (second place) and the French (third).
Q – Why does Faro lead the UK-Portugal connections and what needs to be done to consolidate this position throughout the year?
R – The Algarve, as a holiday destination, is historically established and recognized in the United Kingdom, heavily supported by a tourist operation organized in “packages” for several decades and which, in fact, inspired and had ramifications in the acquisition of second homes which, after these people retired, became their main residences. With the liberalization of air transport and the “migration” of passenger flows from “charter” companies – such as Monarch, Caledonian, Britannia, Airtours, Air 2000 and many others that disembarked in Faro – to low-cost companies, this air connectivity became even more democratized and even allowed the purchase of tickets on the Portuguese side, departing and returning to Faro, which was a true blessing for the mobility of the British community in the Algarve, as well as well as for people from the Algarve residing in the United Kingdom.
During this entire evolutionary path of direct flights, TAP disappeared completely and this was also the price to pay for the decision to close Air Atlantis in the 90s. The minority private shareholder wanted to transform Air Atlantis from a charter company to a low-cost regular company with alternating bases in the Algarve (in the summer) and Madeira (in the winter), but the State/TAP rejected this desire and this determined that this business is now completely handed over to foreign airlines. Of all the markets with direct flights to Faro, the British market has the most direct flights throughout the year – note that there is not even an annual connection to Madeira, which is Portugal, from Faro and this will only start to happen at the end of this year – which is related to the flow of “cross residents” on both sides and also with more mature tourism that is disconnected from the beach, such as golf, health and well-being or visits from friends and family.
Diversify markets and improve the airport experience
Q – What concrete measures do you advocate to make the arrival of non-Schengen passengers in Faro faster and more efficient, especially in summer?
R – Firstly, it is necessary to understand that non-Schengen passengers in Faro represent more than 50% of total passengers – a unique situation in Portugal – and that the overwhelming majority refer to flights to/from the United Kingdom. Ireland also has an interesting volume, while in Canada and the United States the numbers are residual. It is necessary to understand that at an airport nothing happens “suddenly” because the schedules and air capacity are known and are in the system a year in advance, so there is a huge amount of preparation time that the airport can and should take advantage of. It is this majority percentage of non-Schengen passengers that should require rigorous and mathematical control of waiting times in all critical locations at an airport and not just in passports, even though this can be a point of great “stress” for a tourist arriving or leaving.
In call centers, for example, there is already this thorough, professional and public verification of waiting times, average call duration and other metrics that help determine the best solutions for each case. Airport technology has been very evolutionary, both in terms of security control machines – which allow computers to be kept inside suitcases, which do not force people to take off their shoes, which allow liquids of up to 2 liters to be carried, etc. – whether in terms of the so-called “e-gates” that allow passport control to be carried out by reading biometric data. All of this, in essence, is a gain in time, efficiency… and passenger patience!
In the concessionaire’s mindset, it is in fact necessary for Faro airport to look more and more like a British airport in the non-Schengen area: for example, there are already 5 UK airports that allow bottles of up to 2 liters to be taken in hand luggage… it is difficult for a British tourist to realize that they can take this on a flight to the Algarve, but on the way back they cannot. Going further, the entire non-Schengen area of Faro airport should even have prices in euros and pounds and should accept payments in both currencies, too. Faro airport also has the enormous advantage of having two very demarcated seasons: summer and winter, that is, in winter you can test and improve new technologies, procedures and work methods which, if successful, could make life easier in summer and could be “exported” to other national airports with the “test drive” already carried out.
Q – Is the strong dependence on low cost and few companies an advantage or a risk for the Algarve?
R – There is a strong dependence on low-cost companies, it is true. In the case of flights to the United Kingdom, this percentage exceeds 90%, even if it is distributed among several companies. Taking into account that, in the 80s and 90s of the last century, this dependence also existed, but in relation to the “charter” companies – whose permitted legal marketing model required the purchase of a tourist package linked to just a few hotels that were within the circuit and which did not allow the purchase of tickets on the Portuguese side, that is, from the Algarve to abroad – I would say that this “new” dependence is healthier and more democratic. On the other hand, low-cost companies have a structure and a business model that allows them to guarantee flights between Faro and cities such as Exeter, Newquay or Aberdeen, something that would be more difficult to do with other companies. This capillarity and air flexibility have been essential in keeping the Algarve at the top of British tourists’ choices and that is where the great advantage lies. It would, in fact, be very important to have this type of relationship with other markets, regardless of the airline operator and what its business model is.
Faro needs more connections to France, Spain and Eastern Europe
Q – What should change to have more direct flights from the United Kingdom to the Algarve: TAP’s strategy, public policy, or both?
R – When I look at the map of direct flights, it doesn’t seem to me that more direct flights between the United Kingdom and the Algarve are really needed, much less that public policy should focus on this specific case. With seven airlines competing against each other and 25 British airports served, it doesn’t get any better! There are, however, other flaws, especially when we look at the most important markets in the rest of the country, including France.
Direct air connections between the Algarve and France have improved in recent years, but are still very limited in relation to the rest of the country – in 2025, 10% less seats on direct flights between France and Portugal will be destined for Faro; Next comes Spain, whose air connections are practically non-existent – cities in the North such as Vigo, Bilbao or Zaragoza should be connected to the Algarve in the summer in the same way that Porto is connected to Alicante or Málaga so that the Algarve can be a true alternative option for these Spanish tourists; with Eastern Europe which, after all these years, is still very residual at Faro airport. Once again, it ends up being relatively irrelevant which airline operates these flights, the important thing is that they exist. In addition to all this, it would be a huge achievement in terms of operational stability and direct employment to have annual airline bases in Faro.
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