It is the first regular flight between «two paradises», the Algarve and the Azores, but it also aims to be a “catapult” of North American tourists to the Algarve region. The inaugural journey of the new connection between Ponta Delgada and Faro, which took place this Sunday, June 2nd, has already brought 50 passengers to the Algarve region from the United States and Canada and «the tendency is to increase».
This number was put forward by Graça Silva, commercial director of SATA, the airline that guarantees this new connection, who was one of the passengers who boarded in Ponta Delgada, for the inaugural flight of this route, like José Roque, general director of operations of the Azorean air carrier.
«The objective of creating this route was not just to operate in the national market. We built the network so that it was possible to receive, in the Azores, passengers from Boston, John F. Kennedy Airport, in New York, and Toronto, and then distribute them. From now on, one of the destinations is Faro», revealed José Roque to journalists, on the sidelines of the ceremony celebrating the inaugural flight of this new route.
«The same happens in the opposite direction. This flight will arrive in Ponta Delgada before the departure of long-haul flights. In other words, it will be possible to distribute the traffic coming from here to these airports», he added.
The same person in charge admits that the two destinations can be sold in a type of package, considering that there is complementarity between the offer in the Algarve and the Azores.
«We are perfectly convinced of this and that is one of our objectives», he said.
What is certain is that acceptance has been “excellent”, which has led to “a need to increase frequencies, from the initial two to three weekly rotations”.
Despite being the host, Alberto Mota Borges, director of the Faro, made the trip between the Azores, where he is from, and the Algarve, on Sunday.
According to Mota Borges, this new route was born thanks to «the commitment that ANA/Vinci has to the Algarve and to increasing the connectivity of the tourist offer» in the region.
«This route is also a reference for us. Of the three major airports on the Continent, only we did not have a direct connection to the Azores », she reinforced.
André Gomes, president of Turismo do Algarve, highlighted that the Algarve region and the Azores, «despite the distance, have many unifying elements», including «the natural landscapes, but also the gastronomy, the mild climate and the commitment to sustainability".
Before taking advantage of this offer, passengers coming from Ponta Delgada who disembarked on Sunday, in Faro, they received a bit of sea from the Algarve as a gift, which is like saying Algarve fleur de sel, and were able to watch a well-danced jog.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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