#FactsAzores : Azores have the country’s worst airports for long delays, according to a new study by AirAdvisor, a company specialising in air passenger rights.

AirAdvisor analysed flights at Portugal’s 14 main commercial airports between 22 October 2025 and 22 October 2026, ranking them by the percentage of flights delayed by more than 60 minutes.

All nine airports in the Azores occupied the worst positions. Santa Maria had the highest proportion of long delays in the country, with 10.89% of flights delayed by more than an hour, followed by São Jorge (10.29%) and Pico (10.12%).

Graciosa (9.25%), Horta (8.90%), Lajes (8.62%), Ponta Delgada (8.41%), Corvo (7.77%) and Flores (7.27%) completed the nine worst-performing airports. Every airport in the Azores had more than 7% of flights delayed by over an hour, compared with 5.85% in Lisboa and 4.82% in Porto.

Porto Santo and Madeira are the most punctual.
At the other end of the ranking, Porto Santo was Portugal’s most punctual airport, with just 3.77% of flights delayed by more than an hour. Madeira (4.17%) and Faro (4.18%) followed.

However, when flights at Madeira were delayed, passengers faced longer waits: the average delay at Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo was 145 minutes—almost two and a half hours—the highest figure among all Portuguese airports.

Lisboa and Porto sit between the Azores and the most punctual airports.
Lisboa, home to the country’s busiest airport, ranked 10th, with 5.85% of flights delayed by more than an hour. Porto ranked 11th, at 4.82%. When flights at these two airports were delayed, passengers waited an average of 101 and 107 minutes, respectively.

Santa Maria: 10.89% of flights delayed by more than 60 minutes | Average delay: 106 minutes
São Jorge: 10.29% | 103 minutes
Pico: 10.12% | 111 minutes
Graciosa: 9.25% | 110 minutes
Horta: 8.90% | 113 minutes
Lajes: 8.62% | 122 minutes
Ponta Delgada: 8.41% | 119 minutes
Corvo: 7.77% | 94 minutes
Flores: 7.27% | 103 minutes
Lisboa (Humberto Delgado): 5.85% | 101 minutes
Porto (Francisco Sá Carneiro): 4.82% | 107 minutes
Faro: 4.18% | 117 minutes
Madeira (Cristiano Ronaldo): 4.17% | 145 minutes
Porto Santo: 3.77% | 120 minutes

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AirAdvisor is the world’s leading flight and baggage compensation claim service.

Fonte:
AirAdvisor
https://airadvisor.com/pt/aeroportos/aeroporto-ponta-delgada-compensacao-voo

https://acores.rtp.pt/radio/acores-tem-os-piores-aeroportos-do-pais-em-materia-de-atrasos-longos/

https://vousair.pt/estes-sao-os-aeroportos-portugueses-com-mais-atrasos-os-acores-dominam-a-lista/

We were looking to finalize a booking on Pico as we are visiting in a few weeks but I think the hotel is closed for the off season.

Any year round hotel recommendations?

We don’t have to stay in Madalegna would be open to other towns.

Are most restaurants closed as well? Will we have a hard time finding food?

Linda a ilha Terceira adorei

Can't wait to visit other islands in the future.

Faial a ilha que escolhi para despedir me de 2025 e entrar em 2026 uma ilha muito linda . Aconselho a irem conhecer .

Flight options are not out for October 2027. This is the month me and my husband would be traveling.

I’d like to fly from NY to Sao Miguel (PDL) then on to Madeira (FNC) to Lisbon (LIS) and back to NY. This would be the best route to not double back.

For NY it could be JFK or EWR. BOS would be more difficult.

Taking into consideration cost of one-way travel, time, and airline options, what would you recommend?

Is it true that for warmer weather it would be best to start in Sao Miguel for October?

Is AirBnB the best (only) website for finding this kind of accomodation?

Any Slack channel for this purpose?

'Eye of the Rainbow' on the app.

Hi everyone, first time posting to this subreddit and if it’s the wrong spot to ask please let me know. My fiancé and I have just started planning our 2028 wedding and are looking to merge some of my Portuguese heritage into our big day.
A little context: My dad and his family immigrated from Terceira to the United States when he was only 12 back in the 80s. Growing up I lived in a very close, multi generational household with my parents and my Avó and Avô. I was very close to my dad’s side until he passed away in early 2020. I still see and speak with them but it’s unfortunately not the same relationship as it once was. After discussing plans for our wedding, we decided we wanted to include a wedding tradition in honor of my dad but we do not want to ask my aunts for ideas to surprise them on the day. Our wedding will not be held in a church so a lot of priest/church related stuff I saw online will not work unfortunately. Any suggestions are truly so appreciated!!

Has anyone taken advantage of this perk or have any recommendations as to how to split time between Sao Miguel and Portugal (either Porto or Lisbon)? We have not been to any of these locations, but have been to a good portion of western Europe. I generally don't like taking flights in the middle of a trip, but i feel like our usual 2 weeks might be best spent split up a bit. I'm thinking of flying to Portugal first (with the short layover in Sao Miguel) for maybe 5 days, then on the way back staying in Sao Miguel for 9 or 10 days. We plan to go back to Portugal at some point so this short stay there would be mostly for staying in Porto or Lisbon and taking the train between the two and out for a couple of other day trips. Sao Miguel will be for hiking and exploring as much of the island as possible.

This will be in June, and I'm also trying to avoid potential heat waves so I figure limiting time in Portugal might be safer for that time of year.

Olá tudos!

Estou terminando minha estadia nos Açores, tenha sido incrível! Estou em meu último lugar do viagem, Ponta Delgada. Vou ficar na ilha de São Miguel por umas semanas, queria perguntar vocês se tem uns grupos de trilho, atividades ao ar livre, ou outros eventos para conhecer locais, pessoas novas, ou eventos divertidos etc. - se tem grupos de Whatsapp, ou perfil de instagram, ou algo assim, se me poderia dar as informações seria incrivel!

Sou dos EUA, homem de 25 anos, falo inglês, espanhol, e Português, seria legal assistir qualquer evento/grupo :)

…what it says in the title. Working out routes and accommodation now, likely will center around a hotel in Ponta Delgada with the intention (weather dependent I guess) to cover the following regions:

Sete Cidades: include Lagoa do Canário / Boca do Inferno, plus Mosteiros or the Ferraria hot spring.
Lagoa do Fogo → Caldeira Velha → Ribeira Grande → Gorreana: the merged central/north day.
Nordeste → Povoação → Furnas: drop-off and pick-up.
South coast from base: Vila Franca do Campo and Lagoa do Congro, plus Lagoa das Furnas and Pico do Ferro if you want more.
Weather buffer: swap in whichever day got clouded out, or rest.

For those in the know, does this cover the main sites of the island? Other than the Nordeste part, all doable return on an eMTB for an average biker? Anyone want to join, DM me. Thanks for any feedback.

The Açores is the most beautiful place in the entire world. I'm constantly showing pictures to my friends and they can't believe this place is real. I just walked past Panazorica's office and they have a fully AI slop video for their ad. I cant understand why..... Literally not complicated photos. One could take them all in an afternoon with good weather.

I don't want to debate the merits or quality of good AI..this isn't that. This is the lazy slop stuff with wrong number of fingers. Focal length that never changes with impossible camera movement, and those healthy old people looking stunned at nothing.... It completely undercuts any credibility real photos have. I'm so upset.

I took a couple of photos but since the video is behind glass it didn't really work. Booooooo Panazorica boooooooooooo

Just a quick long shot because the coincidence was pretty wild.

Ran into the same guy two days in a row at Caldeira Velha and Grota do Inferno. He was with another guy and a girl (seemed like a couple).

Brown leather boots, black t-shirt with a white flag / red cross (X) design on the back. Looked a bit like a mix of Tom Ellis and Carlos Sainz — pretty sure we exchanged a few looks both times.

If you’re on here (or your friends are), just wanted to say Hi and see if you're up for a 3rd time? 😀

Hi my friends :)

I'll be in the Azores in December, and I was hoping to scuba dive there :)

I was hoping you'll have recommendations for diving centers in São Miguel, Pico, and Terceira if you've been diving there. Also, if you have recommendations for specific sites, it would help as well :)

Thanks in advance and all the best!