João Paulo II Airport

João Paulo II Airport, coded PDL, serves Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous island of the Azores archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary international gateway to the Azores and handles the majority of passenger traffic for the autonomous Portuguese region. The airport was named in honor of Pope John Paul II, who visited the Azores in 1991. It underwent significant expansion and modernization works, including a new terminal opened in 2016, to accommodate growing tourism demand and increased transatlantic and European connections. SATA Air Açores and its sister airline Azores Airlines (SATA Internacional) are based at PDL, operating both inter-island services within the archipelago and long-haul routes to North America and mainland Europe. The airport sees seasonal surge in traffic from the Portuguese diaspora in North America and European leisure travelers.