Faro Airport, the Algarve Tourism Association and the easyJet airline (9 June) inaugurated today the new routes to Nice and Lille, with a maiden flight and a welcome reception for the passengers on arrival of the Airbus A320 coming from Lille.

With the opening of the new services to Nice and Lille, Faro Airport now connects the Algarve to 10 French airports, with the French market, this summer, accounting for a sharp year-on-year increase of 30% on the total offer of seats.

The regular operation of easyJet, the second largest airline operating in Faro, has confirmed the considerable investment the company is making this season in the French market and the Algarve’s extraordinary increase in value as a tourist region of excellence.

easyJet’s Director for Portugal, José Lopes commented that: “We are extremely pleased to open the connections between Faro-Nice and Faro-Lille, and to strengthen our ambition by providing 2.4M seats for operation at Faro Airport, this fiscal year. The launch of these new routes pinpoints easyJet’s commitment to Portugal. We have a close relationship with France and, for this reason, it is very important to consolidate this commitment with the investment in destinations that interest both the Portuguese and the French people. Lille and Nice are two fabulous French cities and they are now connected to the South of Portugal via Faro”.

The operation by easyJet to Nice and Lille will serve the region of the Algarve three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) during the summer season and extend into the winter season with two round trips per week (Mondays and Fridays). With these new services, Faro-Nice and Faro-Lille, easyJet will carry out an additional 224 flights this summer in Faro.

easyJet’s new routes will be provided by Airbus A320 aircraft, with a seating capacity of 186.