TAP Air Portugal Launches Black Friday Sale With €49 Flights

TAP Air Portugal is launching this year’s Black Friday promotion nearly a week early, kicking off the pre-holiday deal extravaganza with flights starting as low as €49 ($53).

Extending across its international and domestic network, the Portuguese flag carrier will be offering cheap flights until November 24. Destinations range from short-haul jaunts such as Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) and Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) to far-flung locales including

São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in Brazil, Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in South Africa, and Caracas’ Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) in Venezuela.

While economy class fares start at €49, TAP’s fare promotion is also available for business class seating. If you’ve got a taste for the finer things, tickets for the premium travel class start at €319 ($346).

Photo:  Bradley Caslin / Shutterstock

Low-cost fares are available to book on dates from November 16 to May 31, 2024. Black-out dates include the busy holiday travel season, between December 15 and January 10, as well as the easter holiday period spanning from March 21 to April 24.

Tickets aren’t limited to just Portuguese customers; according to TAP, residents in Europe, the UK, Brazil, and other major markets can also access the savings. Further details are available on TAP’s website.

Improving climate

Despite financial difficulty through the pandemic, TAP has breezed through 2022 and 2023, delivering some decent financial results and strong passenger figures.

During the first half of 2023, the airline recorded a 30% year-on-year passenger growth, with over 7.5 million passengers traveling with TAP during the first six months of the year. Alongside general passenger growth, TAP has seen a massive increase in demand for travel to South America. Between January and October, 1.6 million passengers flew with TAP to Brazil, one of its key markets, a 23% increase compared to the same period in 2022. As of November 2023, TAP operates over 80 departures each week to 11 destinations in Brazil from its hubs at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) and Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO).

Photo: VanderWolf Imgaes/Shutterstock

The surge in demand has helped the carrier shrink its deficit, with TAP recording a record Q3 profit of €203 million ($220 million) in October, allowing the airline to repay its 2019-2023 bonds and shrinking its debt / EBITDA ratio to 2.4x. In a statement shared by the airline, CEO Luís Rodrigues celebrated the carrier’s recent market successes as it continues to expand its operations,

“Q3 results are encouraging and validate the organizational focus of delivering a good summer to our passengers. We are moving headway to step up the robustness of our operations and the quality of our passenger service, accelerating the recovery from two difficult previous years.”

Privatization efforts remain underway following the government’s decision to formally launch the process in September. Though a buyer has yet to be confirmed, interested parties include Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM, IAG, and Brazil’s government, thanks to its expansive Brazilian network.

The process will see the Portuguese government sell a 51% controlling stake in the currently state-owned operator as it attempts to shirk off some of its recent operational deficits. Completion of a deal is not expected until 2024.

Will you be flying with TAP next year? Let us know in the comments.