In 2020 (preliminary results), 100.2 thousand commercial aircraft landed at national airports (-56.0% vis-à-vis 2019) and 18.4 million passengers were handled (-69.4%). The freight and mail movement at national airports recorded a decrease of 30.2%, reaching 147.0 thousand tonnes.
In 2020, France was the main country of origin and destination of flights (2nd position in 2019), followed by the United Kingdom (1st position in 2019) which recorded the major reduction in the number of passengers disembarked and embarked compared with 2019 (-76.0% and -75.2%, respectively).
In December 2020 there was a movement of 1.0 million passengers at national airports, representing a decrease of 74.7% (-82.1% in November). The movement of freight and mail totalled 15.0 thousand tonnes, corresponding to a decrease of 23.1% (-27.2% in November).

Despite the circumstances determined by the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Portugal calls for the best collaboration by companies, families and public entities in responding to Statistics Portugal’s data requests. The quality of official statistics, particularly its ability to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, crucially depends on this collaboration, which Statistics Portugal thanks in advance.