TAP Air Portugal

TAP Air Portugal
IATA code :	TP
ICAO code :	TAP
Call sign :	AIR PORTUGAL
Founding:	1945
Seat:	Lisbon , Portugal
Turnstile :	Lisbon postage
Home airport :	Lisbon
Company form:	Sociedade Anónima ( Public Company )
IATA prefix code :	047
Management:	Antonoaldo Grangeon Trancoso Neves ( CEO )
Number of employees:	7,385 (TAP SA December 31, 2016)
Balance sheet total:	1.65 billion euros (2016)
Passenger volume:	11.7 million (2016)
Alliance :	Star Alliance
Frequent Flyer Program :	Miles & Go
Fleet size:	107 (+ 35 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.flytap.com

TAP Air Portugal ( Portuguese as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses founded in 1945, shorthand TAP ) is a parastatal and the largest Portuguese airline based in Lisbon and hub to the local airport Humberto Delgado Lisbon and member of the airline alliance Star Alliance .

history

On March 14, 1945, Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (Portuguese Air Transport) was founded in Lisbon. In the same year the company acquired two Douglas DC-3s . It made its first commercial flight on September 19, 1946 between Lisbon and Madrid. On December 31, 1946, the connection between Lisbon - Luanda ( Angola ) - Lourenço-Marques ( Mozambique ) was opened. The travel time there and back took 15 days, required 12 stopovers and was the longest scheduled flight a DC-3 made at 24,540 km.

A TAP Douglas C-54 in 1954

The airline grew within a few years and became a member of IATA in 1948 . The route network also continued to grow, so European destinations such as Paris (1948) and London (1949) were added, which were served with a Douglas C-54 (DC-4) , and Seville (1948), which were served with a DC-3 .

The first Lockheed Super Constellation was put into operation in 1955 in order to be able to serve longer, mostly long, routes without stopping. In 1960, TAP was one of the few airlines in Europe to fly to Rio de Janeiro . In July 1962, TAP received the first Caravelle VI-R , with which it entered the jet age. The company then added other destinations to its flight plan, including Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Maria in the Azores (1962), Munich and Frankfurt am Main (1963), Geneva and Faro (1965) and other European destinations. TAP decommissioned all aircraft with piston engines by 1967 and at that time only flew with jet-powered aircraft of the types Caravelle, Boeing 727-100 and Boeing 707 for a while . The fleet was expanded with Boeing 747-200 and Boeing 727-200 in the 1970s . From the beginning of the 1980s, the company operated under the name TAP Air Portugal . At the same time, the company put its first Boeing 737-200s and long-haul Lockheed L-1011-500 aircraft into service, which replaced the Boeing 707 and Boeing 747.

A TAP Boeing 707 in 1976

A Lockheed L-1011 TriStar from TAP in 1988

In 1985 the subsidiary Air Atlantis was founded, which took over the charter air traffic of the TAP. The airline continued to grow as a result of ongoing progress in the 1980s and 1990s: initially the Boeing 737-300 and Airbus A310-300 were ordered, and at the beginning of the 1990s the Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A340-300 , which the replaced older aircraft.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the previous name TAP Air Portugal was changed to TAP Portugal . At the same time, the first Airbus A330 aircraft were put into operation. TAP has also been a member of the Star Alliance since March 14, 2005 .

In December 2006, TAP announced the acquisition of a 99.8% stake in the Portuguese regional airline PGA Portugália Airlines .

During 2011, the Portuguese government announced the privatization of the company. This is considered part of the EU's € 87 billion rescue package . After several attempts, the last attempt at privatization failed in December 2012 and was postponed until 2015. In spring 2015 there were still two bidders: Avianca and Azul Linhas Aéreas . The Portuguese state then sold 61% of TAP Portugal to Azul founder David Neeleman and Portuguese entrepreneur Humberto Pedrosa , owner of the Barraqueiro group, for around 350 million euros.

Since May 2016, 50% of the airline belongs to the state of Portugal again. Atlantic Gateway reduced its stake to 45%, with management remaining private; the remaining 5% of the shares are reserved for employees. It is also planned that the Chinese HNA and its Hainan Airlines will join the consortium and indirectly acquire up to 20% from TAP.

In September 2017 the company was renamed TAP Air Portugal again. In 2018, Antonoaldo Grangeon Trancoso Neves took over as CEO from Fernando Pinto, who had previously held the position for 17 years.

On July 3, 2020, it was announced that the Portuguese state would acquire a further 22.5% of the shares in Atlantic Gateway and thus hold 72.5%.

service

Economy class

On short and medium-haul routes, the seats in Economy Class in the Airbus fleet cannot be reset. At least one small snack is offered on all flights. On long-haul routes , all seats are equipped with a personal in-flight entertainment system , and food and drinks are included in the flight price.

Economy Xtra

On the short and medium-haul routes, a seat reservation in the front part of the aircraft can be booked for an additional charge . In the Airbus fleet, seats were installed here, which, in contrast to the seats further back in the aircraft, have an increased seat spacing and an adjustable headrest. The seats are also equipped with a tablet holder and a power connection. The meals in Economy Xtra have also been revised, a warm meal is offered at certain times. On long-haul routes, this class offers increased seat spacing and the seats can be folded back a little further. Priority boarding is included from January 2020.

Executive Class (Business Class)

On the short and medium-haul routes, the same seats are used in the Airbus fleet as in the Economy Xtra. There is a better range of food and drinks. On long-haul flights, full-flat seats are offered in most aircraft.

Destinations

TAP administration building in Lisbon

As of 2019, TAP is flying to 91 airports in 88 cities in 36 countries.

Flight destinations in the DA-CH area

In the DA-CH area , TAP flies to Frankfurt , Hamburg , Munich , Düsseldorf , Berlin-Tegel , Geneva , Zurich and Vienna .

In the past, the airports in Stuttgart , Cologne-Bonn and Basel-Mulhouse were also served . However, these routes were discontinued in October 2019 because the network was being rebuilt and the future would like to concentrate more on expanding its own long-distance routes.

Codeshare Agreement

TAP maintains codeshare agreements, including those from the Star Alliance network (here marked with *):

Aegean Airlines * Air Canada * Air China * Alitalia Austrian Airlines * AZUL Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras Brussels Airlines * Croatia Airlines * Egypt Air *

Emirates Etihad Airways Ethiopian Airlines * FINNAIR GOL Linhas Aéreas Intelligentes JetBlue Airways LOT Polish Airlines * Lufthansa * SATA International

Siberia Airlines Singapore Airlines * South African Airways * Swiss International Airlines * Thai Airways International * Turkish Airlines * Ukraine International Airlines United Airlines *

fleet

A TAP Airbus A320-200

Current fleet

As of March 2020, the fleet consists of 107 aircraft with an average age of 9.2 years:

A330-900neo of TAP

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats
Airbus A319-100	17th			144
Airbus A320-200	19th		CS-TNP in Star Alliance special livery; eight with Sharklets equipped	174
Airbus A320neo	7th	8th	CS-TVF in Star Alliance special livery	174
Airbus A321-200	4th			216
Airbus A321neo	6th	18th		216
Airbus A321neoLR	7th	7th		171
Airbus A330-200	7th			263 269
Airbus A330-900neo	19th	2	TAP Air Portugal is the first operator of the A330-900neo; CS-TUK in Star Alliance special livery	298
ATR 72-600	8th		operated by White Airways	70
Embraer 190	9		operated by Portugália	106
Embraer 195	4th			118
total	107	35

A Douglas DC-3 from TAP

A De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter from TAP, 1984

Of the 53 aircraft ordered the originally ordered 12 were Airbus A350 in 14 Airbus A330neo converted. This was announced on November 13, 2015 by the consortium Gateway, the new co-owner of TAP Portugal.

Previously deployed aircraft

In the course of its existence, TAP also used the following types of aircraft:

• Airbus A310 until 2008
• Airbus A330-300 , last retirement in July 2019 and disposal to Air Canada, the four aircraft were taken over by Singapore Airlines in 2017.
• Airbus A340-300 , four copies flew until October 2019, all of these aircraft were taken over in 1994/95.
• Boeing 707
• Boeing 727 -100, -200
• Boeing 737 -200, -300
• Boeing 747-200
• de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
• Douglas DC-3 / C-47 until 1958
• Douglas DC-4 from 1954
• Lockheed Super Constellation from 1955 to 1967
• Lockheed L-1011 TriStar until 1997
• Sud Aviation Caravelle 1962

Incidents

A Boeing 727-200 of the TAP which was identical in construction to the 1977 accident

Memorial in Sta. Cruz ( Madeira )

TAP suffered a total of four total aircraft losses from 1945 to July 2020 at TAP and TAP Air Portugal; two of them resulted in deaths. However, three of the four total write-offs occurred in 1948. Complete list:

• On January 27, 1948, a Douglas C-47 (DC-3) of the Transportes Aéreos Portugueses ( aircraft registration CS-TDB ) had an accident on a training flight in bad weather south of Lisbon. All three people on board were killed.

• On June 8, 1948, a Douglas C-47 (DC-3) of the Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (CS-TDF) crashed on a training flight at Lisbon-Portela Airport after an engine had been shut off during take-off. All five occupants survived the accident; the plane was a total write-off.

• On September 3, 1948, a Douglas DC-4 of the Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (CS-TSB) crashed on a training flight at Lisbon-Portela Airport . The landing was so hard that the plane was totaled. All five crew members survived the accident.

• On November 19, 1977, a TAP Air Portugal (CS-TBR) Boeing 727-200 had an accident while landing at Madeira Airport, which was classified as difficult . In heavy rain and poor visibility, the machine had to abort two attempts to land on the then relatively short runway. On the third approach, it touched down about 600 meters behind the optimal touchdown point and did not come to a stop on the remaining 900 meters due to aquaplaning . The machine fell over the end of the runway onto the cliffs of the island. 131 of the 164 people on board were killed (see also TAP flight 425 ) .

As a result of this accident, among other things, the runway has meanwhile been significantly extended by means of an elaborate stilt construction.

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : TAP Air Portugal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Data on the airline TAP Air Portugal in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
• Data about the airline Portugália Airlines (TAP Regional) in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
• TAP website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} [1] Online, April 18, 2015.
2. ↑ https://www.flytap.com/de-de/miles-and-go
3. ^ History of the TAP
4. ↑ TAP - A Star Alliance member , accessed February 15, 2012 (en).
5. ↑ TAP will definitely be Brazilian , accessed on May 24, 2015
6. ↑ TAP is sold to Azul owner Neeleman , accessed on June 12, 2015
7. ↑ TAP is now half owned by the state again , accessed on May 16, 2016
8. ↑ Reversal of thrust in airline privatization , nzz.ch, from May 23, 2016
9. ↑ TAP Portugal becomes TAP Air Portugal . In: airliners.de . ( airliners.de [accessed September 15, 2017]).
10. ↑ TRAVEL INSIDE: TAP has a new CEO after 17 years - TRAVEL INSIDE . In: aboutTravel . February 15, 2018 ( abouttravel.ch [accessed June 28, 2018]).
11. ↑ State takes control of the airline TAP. In: manager-magazin.de. July 3, 2020, accessed July 3, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Meals on board - menu and timetables | TAP Air Portugal. Accessed December 22, 2019 (German). 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Flying in Economy | TAP Air Portugal. Accessed December 22, 2019 (German). 
14. ↑ Flying in Executive Class - comfort in the air | TAP Air Portugal. Accessed December 22, 2019 (German). 
15. ↑ Travel around the world: TAP Air Portugal - the airline at a glance - data and facts. Accessed December 22, 2019 (German). 
16. ↑ Stuttgart: TAP Portugal starts twice a day for Lisbon in summer 2017 . In: Austrian Wings . ( austrianwings.info [accessed February 10, 2017]).
17. ^ TAP - Air Portugal Fleet Details and History. Retrieved March 5, 2020 . 
18. ↑ TAP Fleet - Discover the TAP Airplanes | TAP Air Portugal. Accessed December 22, 2019 (German). 
19. ↑ Airbus - Orders & deliveries (English), airbus.com, accessed on March 7, 2017
20. ↑ CS-TNP TAP - Air Portugal Airbus A320-200. In: planespotters.net. May 28, 2019, accessed on May 29, 2019 . 
21. ↑ TAP Portugal orders 14 A330-900neo and 39 A320neo Family aircraft , airbus.com, from November 13, 2015
22. ↑ TAP Portugal buys 53 aircraft from Airbus. November 14, 2015, accessed October 13, 2019 . 
23. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1967–2007.
24. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
25. ↑ ^{a b c d e} History of TAP Air Portugal , accessed December 31, 2019
26. ↑ Last A330-300 Exits TAP Air Portugal's Fleet , July 19, 2019
27. ↑ TAP Air Portugal Finalizes A340 Retirement Schedule , July 13, 2019
28. ↑ Björn Daniel Vieten: Lockheed L-1011 TriStar: The most advanced aircraft of its time , BookRix publisher, 2019, ISBN 9783748723875
29. ↑ Accident statistics TAP Air Portugal , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020.
30. ^ Accident report DC-3 CS-TDB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 21, 2019.
31. ^ Accident report DC-3 CS-TDF , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 21, 2019.
32. ^ Accident report DC-4 CS-TSB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 21, 2019.
33. ^ Accident report B-727-200 CS-TBR , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 21, 2019.