Portugal, Lisbon and Porto Tourism Gain Momentum as Airport Passenger Numbers Climb by October 2025: What You Need to Know

Published on December 13, 2025

Portugal, Lisbon and Porto tourism are being reinforced by steady growth in air traffic, with Portuguese airports handling 63.869 million passengers between January and October 2025, a 4.7 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to Statistics Portugal (INE). This sustained rise in passenger numbers supports Portugal’s position as one of Europe’s most dynamic post-pandemic tourism and aviation markets, driven largely by international leisure demand.​

INE’s Rapid Air Transport Statistics highlight how the country’s main gateways continue to absorb record volumes, underlining the importance of air connectivity for city-break tourism, sun-and-sea holidays and visiting-friends-and-relatives (VFR) travel across the mainland and islands.​

Lisbon airport consolidates its role as Portugal’s tourism hub

Lisbon Airport (Humberto Delgado) accounted for 48.1 percent of all passengers handled in the first ten months of 2025, welcoming around 30.7 million travelers, a 2.9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024. As Portugal’s primary international hub, Lisbon’s growth reflects its dual role as both a city-break destination and a transfer point linking Europe with the Americas and Africa.​

The capital’s airport channels visitors into Lisbon’s urban tourism ecosystem, from historic neighbourhoods and cultural attractions to nearby coastal areas, while also supporting outbound travel by residents. Continued passenger growth, however, adds pressure to a hub already operating close to capacity, reinforcing the strategic importance of the approved new airport project at Alcochete, which aims to secure long-term growth for Portugal’s tourism and aviation sectors.​

Porto airport’s strong increase supports Northern Portugal tourism

Porto Airport (Francisco Sá Carneiro) captured 22.8 percent of all passengers, handling around 14.5 million travelers between January and October and registering a robust 5.9 percent year-on-year increase. This outperformance showcases Porto’s rising stature as both a gateway to Northern Portugal’s tourism regions, including the Douro Valley, Minho and coastal towns, and as a competitive alternative hub for international airlines.​

Network expansion by carriers and strong demand from markets such as Germany, France and the UK have helped build Porto into a secondary transatlantic and European hub, attracting visitors who may never pass through Lisbon. The airport’s growth feeds directly into Porto’s city-break tourism, wine tourism in the Douro and broader regional development efforts across the north.​

Faro airport reflects resilient Algarve tourism demand

In the south, Faro Airport, the main gateway to the Algarve tourism region, handled about 9.6 million passengers in the first ten months of 2025, reflecting a 5.7 percent increase and accounting for fifteen percent of total traffic. The growth underscores the Algarve’s continued appeal as a year-round sun-and-sea destination, particularly for visitors from the UK, Ireland, Germany and other European markets.​

Record winter traffic and rising shoulder-season demand, highlighted in broader aviation analyses, suggest that the Algarve is gradually shifting from a strongly seasonal market to a more balanced, twelve-month tourism economy, supported by golf, wellness, nature and residential tourism. Faro’s performance therefore contributes significantly to both regional employment and Portugal’s overall tourism receipts.​

Aviation growth underpins Portugal’s tourism strategy

The 4.7 percent increase in passenger volumes at Portuguese airports by October fits within a multi-year trajectory in which Portugal has consistently surpassed pre-2019 tourism benchmarks, driven by strong international arrivals and expanding air networks. Aviation analyses note that around eighty to eighty-five percent of Portugal’s air passengers are linked to international movements, underscoring the centrality of tourism and global mobility to the sector’s performance.​

This growth supports Portugal’s tourism strategy, which seeks to increase value rather than volume alone by promoting diverse experiences across Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, Alentejo, Centro and the island regions. At the same time, rising passenger numbers highlight infrastructure challenges and the need for continued investment in airport capacity, sustainability and service quality, ensuring that Portugal can continue welcoming more visitors without compromising the travel experience that underpins its success.