Early-morning UK departures at FAO usually mean a Subway bag
In Terminal T1 at Faro Airport, Subway is the go-to grab-and-go spot for people heading on Ryanair, easyJet, and Jet2 flights who just want something predictable to eat at the gate or on board. It’s one of the few places open in the early-morning wave alongside Costa, so if you’re on a 06:00–08:00 departure, this is often the first food outlet actually serving.
Prices sit in the mid-range for FAO: more than a city-centre Subway in Faro or Albufeira, but usually less than a sit-down hot meal plus drink elsewhere in T1. Regulars mention using a single footlong (around the €8–€10 mark depending on fillings and extras) as both pre-flight snack and in-flight meal to dodge buy-on-board sandwiches that can easily hit €6–€7 each.
Standard menu applies: 6-inch and footlong subs, salads, cookies, and the usual fountain or bottled drinks, all after security in T1 near the UK and Ireland gates. For efficiency, people on Reddit say they stick to straightforward builds like Italian B.M.T., tuna, or chicken teriyaki, because the counter crew can assemble those faster during the 2–3 deep queues you see before morning departures.
What regulars do: order a footlong, ask the staff to cut it into two 6-inch halves, eat one near the gate, and have the other half wrapped tightly to eat mid-flight. A few posters skip toasting entirely to save a couple of minutes when boarding starts in 20 minutes and there are still five orders ahead of them on the line.
Watch out for UK peak times between roughly 07:00–10:00 and early afternoon school-holiday departures, when the queue can snake into the main T1 concourse. Late in the day, reports mention missing toppings like specific cheeses or salads, and rushed builds where fillings aren’t spread evenly. If you care about exact fillings, speak up clearly at the counter before they close the roll.
Practical tip: decide your bread, size, protein, and sauces while you’re still in line and have your payment card ready; that can shave a couple of minutes off and make Subway a realistic option even with a 30–40 minute boarding buffer.