Portugal is gearing up for a surge in visitors next spring after a leading low-cost airline announced the opening of a new base at Lisbon airport with plans to grow passenger numbers there by a million, from 1.5 million to 2.5 million.

Easyjet will open its 20th European base at Lisbon airport in April 2012, but flights for new routes will go on sale this month (November). The airline is already the second largest operator at Portugal’s largest airport with 72 weekly flights, second only to Portugal’s national carrier TAP Portugal.

The new base will enable easyJet to add new routes between Lisbon and five European cities. It also plans to up the frequency and number of early morning flights to key existing routes, which include services to London Luton and Gatwick, thereby making one-day business trips more viable.

Better access to Lisbon will be a bonus for homeowners in the south of Portugal, but especially for those with properties on the Silver Coast, just north of the capital. Here, in recent years the area in and around Obidos and Caldas da Rainha has become a quieter, less developed alternative to the Algarve.

To save money when buying in Portugal, Brits are advised to use a currency specialist when transferring their pounds into euros. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Portugal, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Portugal Property Buying Guide’