The world’s leading island destination for the last 11 years, Madeira is set to become even more accessible to one of its key markets, with increased connectivity from the UK for summer 2026.
EasyJet will operate out of Luton twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Jet2 is adding a weekly Monday departure there too. As well as an 11% increase in London airport flights to 31 per week, Bournemouth will again be offering summer season routes with Jet2, departing on Mondays and connecting to Funchal in just 3 hours and 40 minutes. Also in the south, Bristol will offer an extra flight every week, taking its total to five.
In addition to departures from the southwest and south coast, multiple weekly flights will go from cities across the UK, including Belfast, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle. At the height of the season, 55 flights to Madeira per week will be operated by a wide range of carriers, including British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, and TUI Airways, serving travellers of varied means.
A popular destination with hikers, Madeira also proposes a dynamic summer events calendar. The Flower Festival (from 30 April to 24 May) highlights the island’s floral traditions with exhibits and parades. First, the Flower Parade will happen twice this year, on Sunday, 3 and Sunday, 17 May.
After that, the Atlantic Festival (between 5 and 28 June), marks its 20th anniversary and hails the coming of summer in various parts of the island and in Porto Santo with Saturday evening fireworks, music and multimedia shows, circus acts, Summer Sunsets in the garden beside Praça do Povo, Regional Arts Week and the Funchal Lyons Club Bread Fair.
The last weekend of July will bring classic cars, entertainment, and period-dressed extras to the Quinta Magnolia estate in Funchal for Classics at Magnolia (25-26 July). And the autumn begins with the Madeira Wine Festival (27 August to 13 September), welcoming the grape harvest in the capital’s streets and in vineyards and wine cellars across the island.
The increase in connectivity comes after a fall in the British market for overnight stays in Madeira of 1.2% in December 2025. An autonomous region of Portugal, Madeira’s other main markets were Germany (22.0% of the total; down 0.4% compared with December 2024) and Portugal (17.3%; up 10.9%). In fourth position, in terms of share, was the Polish market (7.7%; down 3.9%), followed by the Dutch market (3.6%; up a whopping 17.4%. Overall, the archipelago welcomed 12.8 million stays in tourist accommodation in 2025, according to official statistics. That’s a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.
