John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport (; ) is an international airport located on the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Situated 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 2024 the airport served a total of nearly 3.3 million 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
The airport was inaugurated on 24 August 1969 by President Admiral Américo Tomás, after its construction was planned six years earlier, in 1963.Fátima Cerqueira Dias (2010) Transferred from Santana, at the time of its opening, the runway was 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:
Statistics
+ Busiest routes from João Paulo II Airport (2023) Rank City, airport Passengers % changefrom 2019 Top carriers 1 Lisbon 934,256 11.2% Azores Airlines, Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal 2 Porto 331,882 4.5%Azores Airlines, Ryanair 3 Terceira 249,385 34.6%SATA Air Açores 4 Santa Maria 102,973 24.9%SATA Air Açores 5 Pico 99,080 36.7%SATA Air Açores 6 Horta 93,532 17.7%SATA Air Açores 7 Toronto–Pearson 94,254 24.4%Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal 8 Boston 87,258 22.1%Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal 9 Funchal 71,725 55.2%Azores Airlines 10 Flores 57,197 41.1%SATA Air Açores
Incidents A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757, operating Delta Flight 414 from JFK International Airport in New York City, suffered a hard landing on 18 August 2019. No injuries were reported but the airplane was damaged substantially.
See also Aviation in the Azores Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice
References Notes
Sources
External links
Accident history for PDL at Aviation Safety Network