TAP committed to serving north, restoring number of flights from Porto
"TAP is committed to recovering flights at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport as soon as possible," said the Portuguese airline.
TAP has ensured that it is committed to recovering “as quickly” as possible and in a “sustained” manner the supply of flights at Porto Airport, and is willing to continue the process of dialogue.
In a press release, the national airline said it had met with several organizations representing Porto and the North of Portugal, “to whom it thanks for their contributions,” with the aim of identifying opportunities that will lead to a growth in its operation at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto.
“TAP is committed to recovering flights at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport as soon as possible, and in a sustainable way, in relation to the pre-Covid-19 period,” the airline stresses.
In the same note, TAP also assures that it will continue the process of dialogue with all Portuguese regions.
The airline’s return plan, known on 25 May, provided for the resumption of 27 weekly flights by the end of June and 247 the following month, most of them from Lisbon.
Two days later, TAP’s Board of Directors announced it would “adjust” the announced route recovery plan, ensuring that it would be “subject to legal constraints” on mobility because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This announcement followed statements by Prime Minister António Costa, who on the same day, May 27, stated that TAP’s Executive Committee has the legal duty of “prudent management” and “has no credibility” for a route plan without prior information on Portugal’s border reopening strategy.
The initial plan to resume TAP flights had already been censored by several mayors and political parties, who criticised the carrier’s options and demanded that the government take a position.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, warned that the North and the city of Porto are too important for the country for TAP not to look at this region with respect, saying that the new recovery plan is being worked on.
Asked about the amount of capital injection that the company will need, Pedro Nuno Santos refrained from mentioning the amount in question, only stating that “the level of need of TAP is great”.
“Air transport is critical, not only for tourism, but also for industrial economic activity, particularly here in the North”, he said.
