João Paulo II Airport

Ponta Delgada–João Paulo II Airport

Aeroporto João Paulo II
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerVinci Group
OperatorANA Aeroportos de Portugal
ServesPonta Delgada
LocationRelva
Elevation AMSL79 m / 259 ft
Coordinates37°44′31″N 025°41′52″W / 37.74194°N 25.69778°W / 37.74194; -25.69778
Websiteana.pt
Map
LPPD is located in Azores
LPPD
LPPD
Location of Ponta Delgada-Joao Paulo II in the archipelago of the Azores
LPPD is located in North Atlantic
LPPD
LPPD
LPPD (North Atlantic)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 2,497 8,192 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers1,904,310
Passengers change 17-18Increase3.0%
Aircraft Movements22,685
Movements change 17-18Decrease0.6%
Sources: ANAC[1], Portuguese AIP
ANA
Landing strip of the airport with the Atlantic at the background

Ponta Delgada–João Paulo II Airport (IATA: PDL, ICAO: LPPD), named after Pope John Paul II, is an international airport located on the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Situated 2 kilometres (1.2 miles; 1.1 nautical miles) west of the city centre of Ponta Delgada, it is the primary (and busiest) airport in the Azores, as well as the fifth largest infrastructure managed by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal. The terminal was finished in 1995; by 2005 the airport served a total of 873,500 passengers. It has scheduled domestic flights to all islands of the Azores, plus Madeira and the mainland, namely (Lisbon, Porto and Faro). João Paulo II Airport also accommodates international flights to and from Europe and North America. The airport is the major hub for the SATA Group of airlines, which includes both inter-island SATA Air Açores and international Azores Airlines, and since April 2015 as a base for Ryanair.

History

Interior of main terminal

The airport was inaugurated on 24 August 1969 by President Admiral Américo Tomás, after its construction was planned six years earlier, in 1963. Transferred from Santana, at the time of its opening, the runway was 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) long and was then referred to as the Aeroporto da Nordela, owing to its location at the extreme northwest of Ponta Delgada. It was built in order to serve inter-island connections and the continent, using a single Boeing 737 from the national flag carrier (TAP33). Regular flights to Lisbon began two years later.

In May 1995, at the inauguration of the airport terminal, the facility received the designation João Paulo II, in honour of the visit of the Pope to the Azores in 1991.

"This airport, is part of the integrated history and economic and social development of the Azores, in particular of the Micaelenses, and constitutes an relevant equipment at the service of air transport, not just of the passengers, but also the transport and mail. It is the infrastructure with the largest expression of air traffic in the autonomous region of the Azores, reaching in 2011 935,000 passengers."

Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Santa Maria, Horta and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98. With this concession, ANA was also in charge of future planning, development and construction of future infrastructures.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Ponta Delgada Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Azores Airlines Boston, Faro (begins 2 June 2024), Funchal, Gran Canaria, Lisbon, New York–JFK, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Praia, Toronto–Pearson
Seasonal: Barcelona, Bermuda, Bilbao, Frankfurt, London–Gatwick (begins 4 June 2024), Milan–Malpensa (begins 5 June 2024), Montréal–Trudeau
Binter Canarias Seasonal: Gran Canaria
British Airways Seasonal: London–Heathrow
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zurich
Iberia Seasonal: Madrid
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt
Ryanair Lisbon, Porto
Seasonal: Charleroi (begins 3 June 2024), London–Stansted
SATA Air Açores Corvo, Flores, Graciosa, Horta, Pico, Santa Maria, São Jorge, Terceira
Smartwings Seasonal: Prague (begins 26 April 2024)
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Geneva
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon
Seasonal: Porto
Transavia Seasonal: Amsterdam, Paris–Orly, Porto
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels
TUI fly Netherlands Seasonal: Amsterdam
United Airlines Seasonal: Newark

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at PDL airport. See Wikidata query.
Busiest routes from João Paulo II Airport Airport (2019)
Rank City, airport Passengers %
change
Top carriers
1 Lisbon 839,826 Increase 9.5% Azores Airlines, Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal
2 Porto 300,426 Increase 8.3% Azores Airlines, Ryanair
3 Terceira 185,246 Increase 1.4% SATA Air Açores
4 Boston 111,950 Increase 11.5% Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal
5 Santa Maria 82,431 Increase 5.1% SATA Air Açores
6 Horta 79,464 Increase 6.6% SATA Air Açores
7 Toronto-Pearson 75,763 Decrease 0.5% Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal
8 Pico 72,454 Increase 7.1% SATA Air Açores
9 Funchal 46,221 Increase 15.4% Azores Airlines
10 Flores 40,540 Increase 11.6% SATA Air Açores

Incidents

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-23 15:34 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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