TAP Air Portugal To Add 11 Weekly Flights To Brazil
Summary
- TAP Air Portugal plans to significantly increase its market share between Portugal and Brazil by adding 11 new weekly frequencies in summer of 2024.
- Recife and Rio de Janeiro will receive the largest capacity increases, with TAP Air adding more flights between Lisbon and these cities.
- TAP Air will also increase its operations to other destinations in Africa, North America, and Europe, focusing on Italian leisure destinations.
TAP Air Portugal is looking to increase its market share between Portugal and Brazil next summer. The airline announced on Friday it will put 11 additional weekly frequencies for sale in 2024, with nine Brazilian cities receiving new services from the carrier.
Increasing the weekly frequencies
The Portuguese flag carrier announced on Friday its new operation for summer 2024. The highlight is TAP Air will increase its presence in Brazil by adding eleven frequencies per week, bringing the total departures from Portugal to 91 weekly. The airline currently flies to Brazil employing a mix of planes. On some routes, it uses its Airbus A321neo fleet; on others, it operates its A330-200s and A330-900s.
Recife (REC) will receive the most significant additional capacity from TAP Air Portugal, with three more weekly frequencies from Lisbon (LIS) next summer, increasing from seven to ten. Rio de Janeiro (GIG) will also grow from ten to twelve.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Additionally, Sao Paulo (GRU), Belém (BEL), Brasília (BSB), Natal (NAT), Maceio (MCZ), Porto Alegre (POA), and Salvador (SSA) will also get an additional weekly flight to and from Portugal. In a statement, the airline said,
“With 91 flights per week in the peak summer directly connecting 11 of Brazil’s main capitals to Lisbon and Porto, TAP is reinforcing its market presence with a superior customer product offering between Brazil and Europe.”
Other summer increases
The Portuguese flag carrier will add extra capacity to other destinations as well. In Africa, TAP Air Portugal will increase its operation to Maputo International Airport (MPM) in Mozambique. It will go from three weekly flights to four next summer.
In North America, TAP Air will increase to 13 weekly flights to Toronto (YYZ) in Canada, and San Francisco (SFO) in the United States will grow from five weekly in 2023 to six weekly in peak summer.
TAP Air will increase its capacity in Europe to certain Italian destinations as the company looks to cater to the leisure segment. Rome is gaining another daily flight, and next summer, there will be six daily services between Lisbon and Rome, totaling 35 weekly frequencies. Florence, the capital of the Renaissance, will also grow from eight to ten weekly frequencies.
TAP Air said it is planning to develop this network without outsourcing aircraft. It is possible after an initial review of the network and readjustments to some current frequencies.
Portugal’s flag carrier currently has a fleet composed of 84 aircraft. According to ch-aviation, TAP Air has five Airbus A319s, 18 A320ceos, 11 A320neos, three A321ceos, 11 A321neos, 12 A321 LRs for short and medium-haul operations. Additionally, TAP Air has three A330-200s, one A330-300, and 19 A330-900s, for long-haul services.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.
As of September 2023, TAP Air Portugal operates 1,719 weekly flights, offering 330,456 seats for sale. The airline’s main routes are Lisbon-Paris (56 weekly flights), Lisbon-London Heathrow (44), Lisbon-Funchal (42), and Lisbon-Porto (38).
This week, TAP Air Portugal surprisingly announced it had hit a profit for the first half of a year. This is the company’s first net earning since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline reported a net profit of €22.9 million ($24.9 million) for the first half of this year.
What do you think about TAP Air Portugal’s plans for next summer? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: ch-aviation, Cirium.
