Regional Government welcomes debut of Binter flight between Tenerife and Ponta Delgada - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Mobilidade e Infraestruturas

The Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, Berta Cabral, welcomed today the inaugural flight of Binter's new route between Tenerife North, Canary Islands, and Ponta Delgada.

Berta Cabral spoke to journalists at the João Paulo II Airport upon the arrival of the inaugural flight of this new route, which will operate 17 flights on an Embraer E195-E2 until October 21. There are 132 seats available on each flight.

Between Los Rodeos Airport (Tenerife North) and João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada, there will now be one weekly flight on Tuesdays. The flight lasts two hours and thirty minutes.

For the government official, the fact that Binter has invested in this additional route "is a sign that the connection between Gran Canaria and Ponta Delgada, which has been in place for several years, has met the airline's expectations," which is satisfying for the Azorean Government.

She continued: "The first flight achieved a very good occupancy rate – above 73% from the Canary Islands to the Azores and 80% from the Azores to the Canary Islands – which is very promising. Binter will operate a weekly route, as all routes begin safely, to further consolidate this connection."

"I hope this new route will become firmly established. There is a great deal of affinity between the Azores and the Canary Islands, as there is between Portugal and Spain. The latter is currently our third-largest source market, and I believe this new route will further consolidate the already strong ties between the two Iberian countries," she said.

It should be noted that some passengers who arrived today in Ponta Delgada from Tenerife are visiting the Azores for the second time to discover other islands. In this regard, Berta Cabral highlighted the importance of this additional air link for “year-round tourism across all islands,” pointing out that "the major advantage of the Azores as a destination is that it offers several destinations in one."

"It is appealing for those visiting us to experience different things and different realities, while simultaneously, the Azores have a greater dispersion of tourist flows across all islands. This is very important, whether in the low season or the high season," she stressed.

At a time when there are already 14 airlines flying to Ponta Delgada from 30 destinations, Berta Cabral noted: "We have been consolidating the Azores as a destination with new routes every year. This year, we have three new routes, from Dusseldorf and Tenerife to Ponta Delgada and from Zurich to Terceira Island."