Between July and September, Azores Airlines will operate a direct flight from Ponta Delgada (Azores) to Bilbao (Spain) once a week, on Saturdays. Departures from Ponta Delgada will be at 08:15 am, while departures from Bilbao will be at 2:10 pm. The flights will take approximately three hours.
This connection completes the network of other destinations that the airline was already operating during the summer months, namely Spain, with the connection to Barcelona, which remains with the offer of three weekly flights.
Bilbao is an important urban center that has gained visibility both as a tourist attraction and a relevant outbound market. It is a point of convergence for air traffic, which shows how important this operation is for the Azores Archipelago, which has a direct connection to the European continent.
Azores Airlines' summer operation will be carried out in partnership with a local operator, particularly knowledgeable about the market and dedicated to attracting traffic from the entire northeast of Spain. This operator assumes responsibility for selling part of the available seats, demonstrating the potential of this connection between Ponta Delgada and that market, while mitigating the risk of exploring an additional route for the airline.
The promotion has already started with travel agents, followed by campaigns more focused on passengers. The new route will be launched at the same time as the new Azores Airlines fare model, which came to expand the range of passenger choices and adjust to what they value most on each trip.