Summary
- TAP Air Portugal is expanding its Brazilian presence to Florianópolis with three weekly flights on the Airbus A330-200.
- TAP’s CEO emphasized the importance of launching flights to the state of Santa Catarina to serve the South of Brazil.
- TAP is the largest international carrier in Brazil, offering 813 roundtrip flights in July, dominating the Brazil-Portugal market.
TAP Air Portugal is expanding to its 12th Brazilian destination this September, adding three weekly flights to Florianópolis.
Expanding again
TAP Air Portugal is the largest foreign carrier flying to and from Brazil. The Portuguese carrier currently serves 11 Brazilian cities, but that number will increase to 12 by this September. Florianópolis, nicknamed Ilha da Magia (Magic Island), will have three weekly TAP flights.
The new route to Aeroporto Internacional de Florianópolis – Hercílio Luz will operate on the Airbus A330-200, capable of carrying 269 passengers in a two-cabin configuration. Flights from Lisbon will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with the return legs departing on the same day and arriving in Portugal the following day. Tickets are already on sale on the airline’s website and through travel agents and start at 599€ ($647).
TAP’s CEO Luís Rodrigues, said,
“Launching a flight to the state of Santa Catarina was considered and planned for a long time. For TAP, it is very important to have been able to bring up the launch of the new route in a period in which, because of the disaster in Rio Grande do Sul and the closure of the Porto Alegre airport, the South of Brazil needs more services.”
Rodrigues added that TAP expects to increase its footprint in Brazil, the South American country’s biggest market. This further shows TAP’s commitment to being Brazil’s preferred European carrier.
The big players in Brazil
According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, TAP Air Portugal is the largest international carrier operating in Brazil. Local airlines LATAM Brasil and GOL operate more international flights, but TAP is the largest foreign carrier by number of flights and seat offering.
Photo: Matheus Obst | Shutterstock
In July, peak summertime in Europe and winter in Brazil, data shows TAP has 813 roundtrip flights scheduled to and from Brazil. Aerolineas Argentinas is not far behind, with 797 flights, but its seat offering is significantly lower. TAP has 215,728 seats available in July, while Aerolineas only has 135,000.
Copa is Brazil’s third largest international carrier, with 732 flights scheduled in July, totaling 124,232 seats. Copa manages such impressive numbers, in terms of flights and seat offerings, despite only offering six Brazilian routes. The Panamanian carriers’ services are so frequent that some days will have up to seven daily roundtrips in July.
Brazil – Portugal market
Three airlines connect Brazil and Portugal: TAP, Azul Linhas Aéreas, and LATAM Brasil. Between the three, there are 990 roundtrip flights available from Brazil to Portugal. Without a doubt, TAP claims the largest market share of the three, with 813 flights.
Photo: Airbus
TAP connects Portugal to Brazil through two major cities in Portugal, Lisboa and Porto. The busiest route, by far, is from Lisbon to Säo Paulo’s Aeroporto Internacional de Guarulhos, with three flights on most days and even four on others. From Lisbon, TAP flies to São Paulo, Recife, Belem, Natal, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia. From Porto, the airline connects to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.