The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport stated in Ponta Delgada that the operations of Ryanair scheduled for the next IATA summer confirm the Azores as "a destination, whose consolidation grows every day, increasing its attractiveness with different tour operators and generating the confidence that allows them to develop their activity."
 
Vítor Fraga spoke at the press conference where the airliner announced the opening of flight connections between Ponta Delgada and Frankfurt, the resumption of flight connections between Ponta Delgada and London and the further increase of flight connections between Ponta Delgada and Lisbon with another two weekly flights, from 13 to 15 flights.
 
"All this we are seeing here is the result of the implementation of the most important reform ever made in the accessibility to our Region that took place during this legislative period. It comprised the amendment to the accessibility model to Mainland Portugal and the introduction of new public service obligations for inter-island air transport," said the Regional Secretary.
 
For Vítor Fraga, these were changes whose impact is clearly demonstrated "through the main indicators of tourism and the number of passengers landed in the Region." In this context, the government official added that "the number of passengers exceeded 919,700, that is, 160,524 more passengers than in the same period of 2015; it represents a growth of 21%."
 
"If we compare to what he had in the beginning of this legislative period in 2012, we have a growth of about of 50%," said the Regional Secretary.
 
The Secretary for Tourism and Transport stressed that the expectation for the resumption of the London route "is the consolidation of this route so that it may become a full-year sustainable operation."
 
The German market is the main tourism market of the Azores and the strategy developed for this market is primarily based on the operation tour. As for the new route to Germany, Vítor Fraga pointed out that it will provide the opportunity to "access to market segments that had been out of our reach and, as such, this is an operation designed to complement the existing offer."
 
"It will add value to the Azorean tourism, attracting more and other types of tourists to the Region and contribute to the development of other areas, particularly in terms of tour operation, similarly to what has happened in other markets.
 
The Regional Secretary thanked Ryanair "for continuing to believe in the work the Azores have been developing with the main markets, also addressing a word of thanks to all local players.
 
"The success of the Azores destination and the tourism sector owes much to you. I am sure that your success is the success of all of us and this whole journey that we have undertaken has together in a joint effort between public and private entities, which has yield the results we all know," said the government official.
 
"For a Region like ours, tourism is only good if it is good for those who live here," said the Regional Secretary. He conveyed the belief that we have met all the conditions so that tourism sector may continue to yield good results," always in "a perspective of ensuring the economic sustainability of the destination as well as its environmental and social sustainability."