Portuguese airports have revealed that they recorded the highest number of passengers in the month of July in 2023.

The overall figure, by the end of the month, stood at seven million foreign travelers. This was a 12.5% increase from the corresponding period in the previous year.

As per the National Statistics Institute (INE), more than 117,000 travelers landed in the country in July, which was a surge as compared to 104,300 passengers in 2022.

The INE went on to reveal that ever since the beginning of 2023, the airports in the country have shown historically high numbers where monthly passengers are concerned.

Air traffic rises

In terms of the numbers recorded before the pandemic, the current year has surpassed levels recorded in 2019.

Back then, there were no coronavirus-related restrictions. Nevertheless, even with newer rules in place, Portugal has managed to record a surge of over 11% in tourist arrivals.

Moreover, Quick Air Transport revealed additional data for the month of July, which provided in-depth insights into the seven million passengers and transported cargo.

Not only did the number of travelers change exponentially, but the amount of mail and cargo being brought in via the national airports was also impacted.

Additional statistics

While passengers showed a record peak, the movement of cargo went down by 5.7% in comparison to the previous year.

However, this was still an increase of 1.5% as compared to the levels recorded before the coronavirus pandemic restrictions were imposed.

Meanwhile, the number of passengers showed a growth of 10.8%, as compared to the figure registered in 2019.

In the first half of the current year, meaning from January to July, the number of passengers went up by 25.2% as compared to 2022.

On the other hand, the movement of mail and cargo indicated a decrease of 1.3%.

But when comparing 2022 and 2019 levels, the arrivals of passengers show an 11.8% rise, while the movement of cargo registers a surge of 8.2%.

Foreign travelers

Where July is concerned, 81% of passengers who came to Portugal corresponded to the traffic coming in from various countries.

Of a total of three million passengers, 69% of them were from Europe, which is an increase of 13% as compared to July of the previous year.

The second-largest nationals to visit the country were Americans, specifically in the month of July. They represented a total of 8.6% of over arrivals.

This number was around 9% more than the number registered in the same month in the previous year.

Meanwhile, American airports were stated to be the second-leading destination for foreign travelers. They accounted for 9.8% of the overall number, experiencing an increase of more than 13%.

A majority of the arrivals in Portugal came to Porto Airport, which reportedly received 22.4% of the overall tourists. This was an increase of 25.7% as compared to 2022.

Consequently, Faro Airport reported an increase of 19.2% in the number of passengers arriving in the country.

In addition, the majority of the people boarding international flights in the first seven months of the year came from the United Kingdom.