Summary

  • Over the past few years, flights from the US to Portugal have grown significantly, even despite the pandemic.
  • The largest three full-service carriers in the US, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, have significantly expanded their presence in Portugal.
  • So far, growth in the market in 2025 could be limited.

Over the past few years, flights between the United States and Portugal have grown massively. In fact, airlines have scheduled more flights in 2024 than they did in 2019, showcasing just how much capacity has been added on flights across the Atlantic Ocean to the south European country.

Celebrating anniversaries

In May, Delta Air Lines celebrated the fifth anniversary of its flights between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS). As reported by The Portugal News, since it began flights on the route in 2019, it has transported more than 235,000 passengers between the two cities, with the airline highlighting that it offers convenient connections in the US through its BOS and New York John F. International Airport (JFK) hubs.

The Portuguese outlet cited Paul Hassenstab, the director of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India (EMAI) sales at Delta Air Lines, as saying that BOS has become one of the airline’s fastest-growing international hubs, with the airport becoming a popular destination for Portuguese customers.

United 757

Photo: GingChen | Shutterstock

Meanwhile, even if United Airlines was forced to push back the introduction of services to Faro International Airport (FAO), the airline did increase its capacity to Porto Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) in February. Then, the carrier said that it would add a second daily flight between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and OPO with a Boeing 757-200, with the second itinerary starting on May 23.

United Airlines highlighted that it was the only US-based airline with connections to the second-largest Portuguese city and the airline with the most frequencies between the US and Portugal. American Airlines expanded its services between Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and LIS to a year-round flight.

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The airline said its schedule changes are “a consequence” of the agency’s heightened oversight.

Expanding capacity

JetBlue has also eyed slots at LIS, which is a slot-coordinated airport. However, while the airline had applied for them in November, so far it has failed to obtain any rights to operate frequencies to the Portuguese capital. Still, it managed to expand its codeshare partnership with TAP Air Portugal, with the US-based carrier adding its flight codes on the Portuguese airline’s flights from Europe to the US.

A JetBlue Airbus A321LR Flying In The Sky.

Photo: Bradley Caslin | Shutterstock

Nevertheless, data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that compared to 2019, airlines have scheduled 66.7% more flights from the US to Portugal, with carriers operating flights across the Atlantic Ocean from nine US-based airports.

Departing flights from the US to Portugal in 2019

Departing flights from the US to Portugal in 2023

Departing flights from the US to Portugal in 2024

3,913

5,663

6,522

Another sign of confidence in the market is the fact that airlines have begun adding more widebody capacity on flights between the US and Portugal. In 2019, airlines operating frequencies from the former to the latter scheduled 2,368 flights with twin-aisle jets, and in 2024, that number has grown to 3,257 flights. The biggest difference maker was the Boeing 787: while the type had zero flights in 2019, by 2024, carriers have scheduled 732 one-way flights with the flagship Boeing aircraft.

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Flat growth in 2025

Looking forward, data from Cirium, which provided schedule information up to May 2025, showed that the US-Portugal market should either stay flat in terms of growth during the first five months of the following year or contract marginally. However, it has to be noted that airlines could still add more flights and seats onto the market, especially if there is enough demand to fill larger aircraft, considering the difficult slot situation at LIS and POR, making it harder to add more flights.

A Tap Air Portugal Airbus A321neo flying in the sky.

Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock

According to NAV Portugal, the air navigation service provider in Portugal, airlines failed to receive 27,803 slots at LIS and 10,356 at OPO during the current summer season, which lasts until October 26, 2024. Nevertheless, here is how the US-Portugal market is shaping up for January to May 2025:

US to Portugal seats between January and May 2024

US to Portugal seats between January and May 2025

American Airlines

35,568

35,334

Azores Airlines

48,71

40,362

Delta Air Lines

63,295

57,210

TAP Air Portugal

273,123

291,799

United Airlines

83,514

81,165

Growth

0.3%

As evident from the data sourced from the aviation analytics company Cirium, the market so far is scheduled to stay relatively flat, with TAP Air Portugal driving its growth. In general, the Portuguese carrier has scheduled 6.9% more flights, resulting in 6.6% more capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), during the January to May period in 2025.

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Digital nomadism

While tourism is the obvious answer, considering the attractiveness of Portugal to tourists, including the culture, landmarks, and food, as well as how comparatively cheap Portugal is to the US, an expanding diaspora of US citizens in Portugal is another. According to data from Statistics Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, INE), the number of US nationals with a legal residence status has grown from 4,087 in 2019 to 9,772 in 2022.

TAP Air Portugal planes prepare for takeoff at Humberto Delgado Airport. Transportes Aéreos Portugueses joined the Star Alliance since 2005.

Photo: John Gress Media Inc | Shutterstock

One of the drivers of this growth has been the introduction of the D8 Visa, also known as the Digital Nomad Visa, in Portugal in October 2022. According to Portugal Resident, since the scheme was introduced, the country has issued over 2,600 visas, with US-based residents leading the charts.

While these look like marginal numbers, considering that in 2024, airlines scheduled 1.2 million seats from the US to Portugal, they still show that there is a growing interest in settling in Portugal. This means that families and friends could be interested in visiting their close ones in Portugal and vice versa, increasing the demand for flights in this market.

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