In total, in March, 29,925 passenger disembarkations were recorded by sea, on five islands of the archipelago, according to data available on the SREA website and consulted by Lusa.

Compared to the same month in 2023, when 26,544 passengers disembarked, there was a reduction of 3,381 passengers, equivalent to 11.3%.

In January, the number of disembarkations had already registered a year-on-year decrease, although it had increased again in February.

In the accumulated value of the first quarter, there were 74,367 passengers, 8.9% less than in 2023.

In March, several trips by Atlânticoline were cancelled due to a strike called by the Union of Merchant Navy Workers, Travel Agencies, Freight Forwarders and Fisheries, which has since been suspended.

In winter, there are only passenger shipping connections in the Azores between the islands of the Triangle (Faial, Pico and São Jorge) and between the two islands of the western group (Flores and Corvo).

The island of Pico, which has several daily connections to Faial, was the one that registered the highest passenger movement in March, with 12,696 disembarkations, 12.6% less than in the same period.

Faial recorded similar values, with 12,331 passengers disembarked, a decrease of 11.4% compared to March 2023.

The island of São Jorge, which also has daily connections to Pico and Faial, registered a reduction of 2.8%, with 1,376 disembarkations.

The islands of the western group bucked the trend, registering an increase in movement in the ports.

Between January and April, the 'pink line', which connects the islands of Flores and Corvo, has connections only twice a week.

In Flores, the number of disembarkations increased from 29 to 81 (179.3%), compared to March 2023, while in Corvo it increased from 34 to 60 (75.5%).

In the accumulated value of the first three months of the year, all the islands registered decreases, with the exception of the island of Flores, which had an increase of 8.7% in disembarkations.

Since 2020, Atlânticoline's seasonal operation that connected all the islands of the archipelago (with the exception of Corvo), with larger ships, has been suspended between May and September.

In the high season months, there are now only sea connections between the islands of the central group (Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial) and between Flores and Corvo.

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