João Paulo II Airport

For the airport in Kraków, see Kraków John Paul II International Airport.

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.^[1] 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,^[2] and since April 2015 as a base for Ryanair.^[3]

Ponta Delgada–João Paulo II Airport Aeroporto João Paulo II
IATA: PDL ICAO: LPPD
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Vinci Group
Operator	ANA Aeroportos de Portugal
Serves	Ponta Delgada
Location	Relva
Elevation AMSL	79 m / 259 ft
Coordinates	37°44′31″N 025°41′52″W / 37.74194°N 25.69778°W / 37.74194; -25.69778
Website	ana.pt
Map
LPPD Location of Ponta Delgada-Joao Paulo II in the archipelago of the Azores Show map of Azores LPPD LPPD (North Atlantic) Show map of North Atlantic
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12/30 2,497 8,192 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 1,904,310 Passengers change 17-18 3.0% Aircraft Movements 22,685 Movements change 17-18 0.6%
Sources: ANAC[1], Portuguese AIP^[1] ANA

Landing strip of the airport with the Atlantic at the background

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.^[4] 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.^[4] It was built in order to serve inter-island connections and the continent, using a single Boeing 737 from the national flag carrier (TAP33).^[4] Regular flights to Lisbon began two years later.^[4]

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.^[5] With this concession, ANA was also in charge of future planning, development and construction of future infrastructures.^[5]

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Azores Airlines	Boston,^[6] Faro (begins 2 June 2024),^[7] Funchal, Gran Canaria, Lisbon, New York–JFK,^[8] Paris–Charles de Gaulle,^[9] Porto, Praia, Toronto–Pearson^[6] Seasonal: Barcelona,^[10] Bermuda,^[11] Bilbao,^[12] Frankfurt, London–Gatwick (begins 4 June 2024),^[13] Milan–Malpensa (begins 5 June 2024),^[14] Montréal–Trudeau^[15]
Binter Canarias	Seasonal: Gran Canaria^[16]
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Heathrow^[17]
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich^[18]
Iberia	Seasonal: Madrid^[19]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt
Ryanair	Lisbon, Porto Seasonal: Charleroi (begins 3 June 2024),^[20] London–Stansted
SATA Air Açores	Corvo, Flores, Graciosa, Horta, Pico, Santa Maria, São Jorge, Terceira
Smartwings	Seasonal: Prague
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon Seasonal: Porto
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam,^[21] Paris–Orly,^[22] Porto^[23]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam
United Airlines	Seasonal: Newark^[24]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at PDL airport. See Wikidata query.

Busiest routes from João Paulo II Airport Airport (2019)^[25]

Rank	City, airport	Passengers	% change	Top carriers
1	Lisbon	839,826	9.5%	Azores Airlines, Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal
2	Porto	300,426	8.3%	Azores Airlines, Ryanair
3	Terceira	185,246	1.4%	SATA Air Açores
4	Boston	111,950	11.5%	Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal
5	Santa Maria	82,431	5.1%	SATA Air Açores
6	Horta	79,464	6.6%	SATA Air Açores
7	Toronto-Pearson	75,763	0.5%	Azores Airlines, TAP Air Portugal
8	Pico	72,454	7.1%	SATA Air Açores
9	Funchal	46,221	15.4%	Azores Airlines
10	Flores	40,540	11.6%	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.^[26]

See also

• Aviation in the Azores
• Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport
• John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice

References

Notes

1. AIP Part 3 - AD 2 Aerodromes 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
2. SATA Press Kit. 2009. p. 8.
3. . Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
4. Fátima Cerqueira Dias (2010)
5. (PDF), Lisbon, Portugal: ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, SA, 2011, p. 1115, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2014, retrieved 2 January 2014
6. "Azores Airlines Expands Funchal – North America Routes in NS24". www.aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
7. "Azores Airlines Plans June 2024 Ponta Delgada – Faro Launch". www.aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
8. "New Routes". Azores Airlines.
9. "SATA reliera Ponta Delgada à Paris et Londres Air Journal". www.air-journal.fr. 9 December 2020.
10. "Azores Airlines". Azores Airlines.
11. McWhirter, Fiona (9 January 2021). "Details on flights to and from the Azores". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
12. "Azores Airlines Adds Bilbao Service in 3Q23". www.aeroroutes.com.
13. "AZORES AIRLINES SCHEDULES PONTA DELGADA – LONDON GATWICK ROUTE IN NS24".
14. "AZORES AIRLINES SCHEDULES MILAN LAUNCH IN JUNE 2024". aeroroutes.com. 31 October 2024.
15. "Azores Airlines Resumes Ponta Delgada – Montreal Route in NS23". www.aeroroutes.com.
16. "Noticias". Binter Canarias.
17. "British Airways Adds Portugal Routes and Runs 'The Perfect Flight'". simpleflying.com. 15 September 2021.
18. "Edelweiss bald wieder mit mehr Langstrecken-Flügen?". 29 March 2022.
19. "Iberia to increase its presence in Portugal during the summer". Avianca. 29 April 2022.
20. https://www.ryanair.com/de/de/lp/timetable?originIata=CRL&destinationIata=PDL
21. "Routes In Brief: November's Rolling Daily Updates". Routes Online. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
22. "Transavia : 61 avions et 8 nouvelles lignes pour l'été 2022".
23. "Transavia anuncia nova rota entre Porto e Ponta Delgada". 17 December 2021.
24. Da Silva, Lurdes C. (14 October 2021). "United Airlines to add Newark/Ponta Delgada route in 2022". The Herald News.
25. "Eurostat Data Explorer". Retrieved 24 December 2020.
26. "Accident: Delta B752 at Ponta Delgada on Aug 18th 2019, hard touch down causes creases in fuselage". The Aviation Herald.

Sources

• Dias, Fátima Cerqueira (2010), O Aeroporto de Ponta Delgada - João Paulo II, 40 anos de História (in Portuguese), Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

  Media related to Ponta Delgada-João Paulo II International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Accident history for PDL at Aviation Safety Network