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 2024 the airport served a total of nearly 3,3 million passengers.^[2] 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,^[3] and since April 2015 as a base for Ryanair.^[4]

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
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 (2024)
Passengers 3,285,000 Passengers change 23-24 9.7% Aircraft movements 37,195 Movements change 23-24 5.9%
Sources: ANAC, Portuguese AIP[1] ANA Vinci[2]

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.^[5] 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.^[5] It was built in order to serve inter-island connections and the continent, using a single Boeing 737 from the national flag carrier (TAP33).^[5] Regular flights to Lisbon began two years later.^[5]

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.^[6] With this concession, ANA was also in charge of future planning, development and construction of future infrastructures.^[6]

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Azores Airlines	Boston,[7] Faro,[8] Funchal,[9] Gran Canaria, Lisbon,[10] Milan–Malpensa,[8] Montréal–Trudeau,[8] New York–JFK,[11] Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[12] Porto,[10] Praia,[13] Toronto–Pearson[7] Seasonal: Barcelona,[14] Bilbao,[15] Frankfurt[16]
Binter Canarias	Tenerife–North (begins 1 July 2025)[17] Seasonal: Gran Canaria[18][19]
British Airways	Seasonal: London–Heathrow[20]
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich[21]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Düsseldorf (begins 10 May 2025)[22]
Iberia	Seasonal: Madrid[23]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt[24]
Ryanair	Lisbon,[25] Porto[25] Seasonal: Charleroi,[26][27] London–Stansted[25]
SATA Air Açores	Corvo,[9] Flores,[9] Graciosa,[9] Horta,[9] Pico,[9] Santa Maria,[9] São Jorge,[9] Terceira[9]
Smartwings	Seasonal: Prague[28]
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon[29]
Transavia	Seasonal: Amsterdam[30][31]
United Airlines	Seasonal: Newark[32]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at PDL airport. See Wikidata query.

Busiest routes from João Paulo II Airport (2019)^[33]

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.^[34]

See also

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