TAP Air Portugal just added the 100th aircraft to its fleet, an Airbus A330neo, as the carrier prepares to inaugurate service from Chicago O\u2019Hare, and later this month from San Francisco and Washington, DC.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Also on June 1, TAP will introduce the A321 LR to its US operations, flying between Newark and Porto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fleet of 100 is a record for the 74-year-old airline. In all, TAP has 71 new aircraft being\ndelivered through 2025, including 21 A330neos, 19 A320neos, 17 A321neos, and 14\nA321 Long Range jets. TAP is the launch\nairline for the A330neo aircraft and is currently the only airline in the world\nto operate all of Airbus’ latest generation NEO aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On June 1, TAP will make the first transatlantic commercial\nflight with an Airbus A321 Long Range, on June 1, departing from Porto for\nNewark Liberty International. This will\nbe the first time a narrow body family aircraft, which routinely operates\nmid-range routes, makes a longer range route. The innovative features of this\naircraft allow it to fly over the Atlantic, offering passengers the premium\ncomfort of a long-haul plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also on June 1, TAP commences five round-trip flights per\nweek between Chicago O\u2019Hare and Lisbon. \nFive round-trip flights per week between San Francisco and Lisbon\ncommence on June 10, and then five weekly round-trips also begin between\nWashington-Dulles and Lisbon on June 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Tomorrow is, again, a historic day. TAP is a pioneer\nacross the Atlantic with one of Airbus’ latest new generation models, which is\nthe most efficient and comfortable in the world,\u201d said Antonoaldo Neves, TAP’s\nExecutive President. \u201cThe ability to\noperate transatlantic flights is an added value of the Airbus A321LR, from\nwhich TAP can make the most of Portugal\u2019s geographical position, given the\nproximity of the US east coast and the northeast of Brazil. The reach and\nflexibility of this aircraft allows us to increase the connections between both\nPorto-New York and Porto-S\u00c3\u00a3o Paulo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With 16 full-flat, state-of-the-art executive seats, four of\nwhich are individual, the Airbus A321LR also offers more space in Economy class\nwith ergonomic seats, equivalent to that available on the Airbus A330neo, and\nan onboard entertainment and connectivity system free with unlimited written\nmessages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The renewal of the airline\u2019s fleet, with 71 new aircraft\nplanned through 2025, was an important part of the new shareholders plan\npresented at the time of the airline\u2019s privatization in 2015. These latest generation planes, with more\nseats and lower costs, are at the heart of TAP’s transformation and\nmodernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TAP\u2019s fleet growth, from 2015 to 2018, represents a 21%\nexpansion \u2013 the most of any European airline, which grew by an average of 13%\nover the same time, according to Flight Global data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 7-decade-old airline is one of the world\u2019s top 10\nfastest growing airlines this year, according to Routes. TAP was the fastest growing European airline\nto the United States in the last four years, flying 39% more passengers,\ncompared to competing European airlines\u2019 average of 19% over the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new fleet means robust route network growth for TAP \u2013\nsuch as new service to Lisbon from Chicago O\u2019Hare, San Francisco and\nWashington-Dulles next month. These\nadditions means TAP will serve 8 North American gateways, quadruple that of\nfour years ago. TAP\u2019s passenger growth\nbetween Portugal and North America grew 176.5% between 2015 and 2018. In Brazil, where the airline offers the most\ngateways to Europe, TAP saw a 22.8% increase in passengers in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chicago flights will operate Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays,\nSaturdays and Sundays, departing Chicago-O\u2019Hare on at 6:05 p.m., and arriving\nin Lisbon at 7:50am the following morning. \nReturning flights leave Lisbon at 1:05pm, arriving into O\u2019Hare at\n4:05pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SFO flights will operate Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays,\nSaturdays and Sundays, from June 10, departing SFO on at 4:10pm, and arriving\nin Lisbon at 11:25am the following morning. \nReturning flights leave Lisbon at 10am, arriving into SFO at\n2:40pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington flights will operate Mondays, Wednesdays,\nThursdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing at 10:40pm, arriving in Lisbon at\n10:50am the next day. Returning flights\nleave Lisbon at 4:30pm, arriving at Dulles at 7:40pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith more than 70 new planes on the way, this is only just\nthe beginning,\u201d said David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways and a major\nshareholder in TAP. \u201cWe have 10 gateways from Brazil to Portugal and believe we\ncan support the same number from the US. \nToday\u2019s expansion to Chicago and Washington, DC, reflects what an\nincreasingly popular destination Portugal has become, especially with visitors\nfrom the U.S. Our network beyond Lisbon\nis also growing. We now serve some 75\ndestinations in Europe and Africa and fully 50 percent of our American\npassengers are flying us to places beyond Portugal, many making use of our\npopular Portugal Stopover program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The A330neo will feature the new Airspace by Airbus\ncabin. The economy cabin now comprises\ntwo categories: Economy and EconomyXtra.\nThe configuration and design provide a fresh atmosphere, with more legroom,\ndeeper seat recline, and new seat covers in shades of green and gray, and green\nand red in EconomyXtra. The seat pitch\nin regular economy is 31 inches, while Xtra offers an additional three inches\u2019\nlegroom with a pitch of 34 inches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In TAP\u2019s Executive business class, TAP offers 34 new\nfully-flat reclining chairs that are more than six feet long when fully\nreclined. Also, TAP has powered up its\nnew business class chairs to include USB slots and individual electrical\nsockets, connections for headphones, individual reading lights, and more space,\nincluding more storage room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The A330neo aircraft features state of the art personalized\nentertainment system and connectivity that allows for free messaging. TAP will be the first European airline to\noffer web-based messaging on long haul flights free for all passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In TAP\u2019s Executive business class, TAP offers 34 new\nfully-flat reclining chairs that are more than six feet long when fully\nreclined. Also, TAP has powered up its\nnew business class chairs to include USB slots and individual electrical\nsockets, connections for headphones, individual reading lights, and more space,\nincluding more storage room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since its first beginnings in 1945 with just one aircraft,\nTAP fleet has grown steadily:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1945 – 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1955 – 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1965 – 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1975 – 28<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1985 – 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1995 – 41<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2005 – 42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2015 – 75<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2019 – 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TAP introduced the Portugal Stopover program in 2016 to\nfurther attract the \u2018beyond Lisbon\u2019 guest. \nTravelers to all of TAP\u2019s European and African destinations can enjoy up\nto five nights in Lisbon or Porto along the way, for no extra airfare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Portugal Stopover, which was just named \u201cBest Stopover\nProgram\u201d by Global Traveler magazine, comprises a network of more than 150\npartners who provide exclusive offers for Stopover customers for hotels\ndiscounts and complimentary experiences such as free entry to museums, dolphin\nwatching in the River Sado and food tastings \u2013 even a free bottle of Portuguese\nwine in participating restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Travelers can also enjoy a stopover in Lisbon or Porto even\nif their final destination is in Portugal, such as: Faro (Algarve); Ponta Delgada or Terceira\n(the Azores); and Funchal or Porto Santo (Madeira).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAP Air Portugal just added the 100th aircraft to its fleet, an Airbus A330neo, as the carrier prepares to inaugurate service from Chicago O\u2019Hare, and later this month from San Francisco and Washington, DC.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Also on June 1, TAP will introduce the A321 LR to its US operations, flying between Newark and Porto. A fleet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/TAP-airbus-a321-lr-cs-txa.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12985,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions\/12985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}