Horta Airport
Horta Airport
Horta Airport (IATA: HOR, ICAO: LPHR) is an airport located in the parish of Castelo Branco, 9.5 km (5.9 mi) southwest of the center of Horta, on Faial Island in the archipelago of the Azores. The airport was remodeled and reinaugurated in December 2001, in order to serve the islands of the Central Group (Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial), as well as expanded to support domestic connectivity to Lisbon. It is an important economic tool in the economy of the region, and a vital connection to the smaller aerodromes in the outlying islands. Currently, there are plans to expand the runways by 275 m (902 ft), and night time air flight services have been approved.
Location
38.520°N, 28.716°O · 36 m s. n. m. (118 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 2
Tower
Approach
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
The airport at Horta was inaugurated on 24 August 1971 by then President Almirante Américo Tomás. On 5 July 1985, TAP Air Portugal initiated direct flights between Horta and Lisbon: the first aircraft was a Boeing 737 named Ponta Delgada.
Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98. With this concession, ANA was also provided to the planning, development and construction of future infrastructures.
Following the 2001 renovation, the airport was designated an international airport. Although a seasonal pattern of activity and airline movements occur at this airport, there has been a steady increase in the passenger numbers and cargo transited at Horta Airport.
Between the months of October and November 2009, the runway grooving was undertaken by the company Proysesa.
On the afternoon of 28 July 2011, a refurbished control tower was inaugurated, which permitted the airport to oversee the Central Group, as well as the Western Group of islands (Flores and Corvo). A Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system was installed in the expanded tower, allowing the supervision of aviation within the airspace, as well as monitoring approaching aircraft to the islands of Pico, São Jorge and Graciosa, in addition to allowing a larger workspace for air traffic controllers. During the inauguration, the administration of the airport also identified plans to install satellite technology that would allow aircraft to land in instances of low cloud cover, or where visibility was poor or non-existent. The installation of these new systems would occur at the two ends of the runway in 2012.
In 2012, the contamination of the gasoline tanks at Horta airport resulted in a deviation from normal flight operations, resulting in flights being refueled on other islands (primarily Lajes Field on Terceira). The contamination of the jet fuel, resulted in delays between Lisbon and Horta, where flights would have to include a stopover on Terceira. A similar situation in 2009, lasting for 20 days resulted in redirected flights to Ponta Delgada (São Miguel) and Vila do Porto (Santa Maria).
Airlines operating here · 2
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Ruben J.C. Furtado · Public domain · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Horta Airport (HOR). Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR
MLA
“Horta Airport (HOR).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Horta Airport (HOR).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Horta Airport (HOR). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR (Accessed: 19 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_hor,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Horta Airport (HOR)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR}},
urldate = {2026-10-19},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-19}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HOR |title=Horta Airport (HOR) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-19 |language=en}}