Lisbon, April 14, 2026 (Lusa) – Portuguese airports handled a record 4.5 million passengers in February, a 3.3% year-on-year increase, according to data released on Tuesday by Statistics Portugal (INE).
Since the beginning of the year, passenger numbers have risen by 3.7% to 8.876 billion.
Lisbon airport accounted for 55.6% of all passengers in the first two months of the year, handling 4.9 million people. This represents a 3.4% year-on-year growth. Porto airport handled 2.1 million passengers (23.8% of the total), up 7.7%, while Faro airport saw a 1.9% decrease, to 662,100 passengers (7.5% of the total).
Funchal maintained its position as the third-busiest airport in February, according to the INE, as it handled 713,700 passengers in the first two months of 2026, a 5.1% increase that surpassed Faro’s figures.
Spain remained the primary country of origin for international flights until the end of February, with a 5.3% increase in arrivals. France followed with an 11.2% decrease, while the United Kingdom grew by 0.8%. The United Kingdom ranks first among destinations, with a 1.2% increase in embarked passengers, followed by Spain (+5.3%) and France (-11.5%).
Brazil and Germany alternate between fourth and fifth positions, depending on whether they are the country of origin or destination.
Freight and mail movement at national airports fell by 0.5% in the first two months of 2026, following a 1.6% decrease in 2025. Lisbon airport handled 28,700 tonnes, representing 77.3% of the total and a year-on-year decline of 0.3%. Cargo and mail movement at other airports decreased by 1.2%.
National airports handled 4.5 million passengers and 19,200 tonnes of freight and mail in February alone. These figures represent year-on-year increases of 3.3% and 0.6%, respectively, compared to a 4.0% rise in passengers and a 1.6% drop in cargo during the previous month.
"Following a historical peak in January, the number of passengers reached a new record high in February," INE highlighted. During that month, an average of 81,200 passengers landed daily, a 3.3% increase over the 78,600 recorded in February 2025.
INE data also indicates that 15,800 commercial aircraft landings occurred in February. International traffic accounted for 83.2% of disembarked passengers, totalling 1.9 million (+3.6%).
Most of these passengers arrived from Europe, which represented 67.3% of the total and showed 1.2% growth compared to February 2025. The Americas remained the second main origin, accounting for 10.0% of the total (+19.7%).
Regarding outgoing passengers, 82.3% corresponded to international traffic, totalling 1.8 million (+3.6%). INE identifies Europe as the main destination (66.5% of the total), with growth of 1.1% over February 2025. The Americas were the second-largest destination for departing passengers, accounting for 10.1% of the total (+19.0%).
PD/RYOL // ADB.
Lusa
