Could 2023 be a historic year for the tourism region of Porto and Northern Portugal? This is the conviction of the head of the tourist promotion agency, for Porto and North of Portugal. We could attract six new airlines, that will star operating to Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, this summer. The companies that already schedule their debut in the coming months, are The Israeli Sun D” Or, Austrian Airlines, Air Baltic, Norwegian, Scandinavian Airlines and the Icelandic Play. Air connectivity – a factor that is critical for the success of the territory. But summer, will be also reinforced with new routes by carriers with knowledge of the market, such as Ryanair, Easyjet and Eurowings. This are great news, but we do think that we need more of long-distance connections. Markets such as the USA, Brazil, Canada, Asia and the Pacific are very important, with greater value. When they visit us, is against the cycle of what summer is. And they are fundamental to combating seasonality, and allowing an increase in the average stay. But in these cases links are not enough. About three months ago, a working group led by the Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development of the North (CCDR-N) and in which several organizations in the region were present delivered a study to the government that identified the airlines that could resolve the issue of connectivity with the high potential markets for the region, reinforcing the need to create a fund within the scope of the State Budget to support communication and marketing campaigns to promote new intercontinental routes. It is extremely important and essential for the region to decide which long-haul connections are most interesting for the growth of tourism and to apply funds from the Fund for Air Connectivity on the routes it considers most relevant. We do hope so!!! But we are on the right path to make in deed a historic year.