Ryanair have just announced that they are to launch the first direct Porto to Faro route 4 days a week as from 26th October 2009.
See:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/PT/news.php?yr=09&month=aug&story=rte-pt-050809
and
http://www.lowcostportugal.net/faro/ryanair-lanca-rota-domestica-porto-faro-e-duas-internacionais/2009/08/
Flights will operate Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
At present according to the Ryanair site, flights will operate as follows:
Porto: 12;00
Faro: 13:00
Faro: 13:25
Porto: 14:30
This flight will certainly change the dynamics of travelling within Portugal as for a long time the South of the country has been remote from the North. Flights operated by the national airline TAP/Air Portugal have meant plane changes in Lisbon and 5 to 6 hour flights.
The only negative aspect of this will be pressure on the existing long distance bus operators and Portuguese Railways who currently provide low cost services on the route.
It will also mean that travellers from the Algarve maybe be able to benefit from links to certain other destinations via Porto such as Las Palmas, Madrid, (albeit with a 6 hour wait.),Paris (Beauvais - 100km from Paris),
The airline has also announced the launch of routes from Porto to Karlsruhe and Dusseldorf (Weeze).
While I am not a great fan of Ryanair, these services provided they are maintained should revolutionise travel between the North and South of Portugal.
