"José Espartero, who was speaking at a news conference on São Miguel, said that the Frankfurt flight would be on Saturday. Meanwhile, he announced that the company would also be increasing the frequency of its flights to and from Lisbon to 15 from the current 13.
The London route was a resumption of one that had previously existed, he noted, adding that the airline aimed to expand its network with year-round links between Ponta Delgada and Europe.
“The idea is to maintain all year the operation to Frankfurt and to London, too," he said. "But at the moment the reservations available are for the summer of 2017, which starts in March and ends in October for the company."
At present, Ryanair only has flights to and from Ponta Delgada and mainland Portugal, namely Lisbon and Porto. It has already announced plans to start operating these two routes two and from Terceira from December, with four weekly flights to Lisbon and two to Porto. That will, the company said in September, mean the airline transporting 100,000 passengers a year through the civilian airport at Lajes.
The Azores secretary for transport and tourism, Vítor Fraga, who attended Thursday's news conference, said that the government would be working with Ryanair on campaigns in the German and UK markets, at a cost of €90,000 each, to promote the region as a destination.
Fraga said he did not see Ryanair as competing directly with local airline SATA, which also flies to Frankfurt, arguing that the Ireland-based company “has a market completely distinct niche" in the holiday market.
SATA currently offers one weekly flight to Frankfurt in the winter and two in the summer."
Fonte: The Portugal News Online