The TAP Air Portugal Fleet In 2023

Next week, Portuguese flag carrier TAP Air Portugal will mark 77 years since it commenced operations on September 19th, 1946. The airline has come a long way in this time, and it now boasts a modern fleet consisting primarily of Airbus twinjets. Let’s take a closer look at the various aircraft types at the carrier’s disposal.

Airbus narrowbodies

As is common among European flag carriers, TAP favors the Airbus A320 family for its narrowbody operations. According to data from ch-aviation.com, 60 of TAP’s 84 aircraft fall under this category, with the smallest being its five A319-100s. These are 22.8 years old on average, compared to a fleet-wide mean of 11.5 years.

Moving up in size, TAP’s most numerous A320 family design is the standard A320-200. The airline presently has 18 of these twinjets at its disposal, of which three are on lease (two from SmartLynx and one from Fly2Sky). These aircraft are 17.4 years old on average, rendering them younger than its three A321-200s (21.7 years).

Photo: Airbus

Recent years have also seen TAP invest in the new A320neo series. At present, it has 11 A320neos in its fleet at an average age of just 3.8 years old, with another 14 on order. Going larger, the carrier also flies 11 A321neos (with another ten on order) and, as pictured above, 12 A321LRs, which it uses on transatlantic flights.

Airbus widebodies

Looking at the widebody side of TAP’s operations, the airline has an especially young fleet in this regard. Indeed, of the Portuguese national airline’s 23 Airbus widebodies, 19 are A330-900s from the next-generation A330neo family. On average, these twin-aisle jets are just 4.4 years old, and the carrier has two more on order.

Even before the arrival of the A330neo, TAP favored the older A330ceo series. This is evidenced by the fact that it still has three examples of the A330-200 model at its disposal, with an average age of 15.5 years old. Historically speaking, another 15 of these European widebodies served the Portuguese flag carrier.

Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock

In addition to these aircraft, TAP Air Portugal has also been wet leasing a single Airbus A330-300 from Wamos Air this summer. Registered as EC-NTX, this 8.7-year-old aircraft has 255 economy and 30 business class seats. FlightRadar24.com shows that its first flight with TAP took it to Recife, Brazil, on June 1st this year.

The odd one out

As has become abundantly clear by now, TAP Air Portugal heavily favors Airbus twinjets in its present operations. However, the one exception to this rule is CS-TSU, a Boeing 767-300ER currently operating on a wet-leased basis from euroAtlantic Airways. FlightRadar24.com shows that TAP first deployed this 21-year-old 267-seater on a route to Praia in Cape Verde in April this year.

What do you make of TAP Air Portugal’s current fleet? How many of its aircraft have you flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Sources: ch-aviation.com, FlightRadar24.com