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Transfers and Terminal Layout at Ponta Delgada Airport
Ponta Delgada has a single terminal offering basic facilities, with the main check-in hall and arrivals area both located on the ground floor.
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The airport is easy to navigate and the check-in process is quick. The single security checkpoint leads to a shared transit area, where there are freely accessible departure gates for flights to Schengen countries, and, beyond passport control, departure gates for non-Schengen destinations.
The transit area is often crowded and, particularly in the mornings and afternoons, there aren’t enough seats available.
Connecting between flights
Ponta Delgada is a very common transfer point for flights from Europe and the USA to the other Azores islands, as well as for flights from the USA/Canada to mainland Portugal or vice versa.
It is one of the quickest and most user-friendly airports in Europe for transfers.
Do I have to leave the transit area?
No. If your connecting flight was booked as part of a single reservation, or if you’re travelling with hand luggage only and already have an online boarding pass for your connecting flight, you do not need to leave the transit area.
You will always walk from the aircraft to the terminal across the tarmac. You will then enter the terminal hall. If you are arriving from a country outside the Schengen Area (e.g. the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Cape Verde), you will go through passport control (queues of around 20 minutes), whilst if you are arriving from a Schengen country, you will not go through any checks.
To the right is the exit to the baggage reclaim area, and to the left is the passage to connecting flights, leading directly to the departure gates.
There is no security check.
The entire transfer takes approximately 5 minutes (+ any passport control, if applicable).
Do I need to collect my luggage?
Your checked-in luggage will be automatically transferred and you will collect it at your final destination, provided you have a connecting flight booked as part of a single reservation.
Overnight stay in the terminal – opening hours
Some flights from Ponta Delgada Airport depart in the early hours of the morning, so it may be worth finding accommodation nearby.
Where can you stay overnight near the airport?
Ponta Delgada Airport is open from 5.00 am to midnight. After the last flight, the terminal closes andit is not officiallypossible to stay overnight inside.
According to some travellers’ experiences, the police have allowed people to stay overnight at the airport upon presentation of a flight ticket; however, there are no comfortable seats in the terminal, making it very uncomfortable to spend the night there.
Hotels near the airport
You won’t find any accommodation directly at the terminal or within walking distance of it. Looking at a map of hotels, it may appear that some accommodation is very close to the terminal as the crow flies; however, the airport is separated from the surrounding area by a steep embankment, which cannot be crossed except by taking a long detour via the road.
You should therefore look for the nearest accommodation in the centre of Ponta Delgada, from where you can reach the airport by taxi in 10 minutes.
If you don’t want to rely on a taxi in the morning, you can stay in simple but cosy apartments a 20-minute walk away along the pavement:
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