TAP won’t divest in Porto, the north – chairman

The chairman of TAP Air Portugal, Miguel Frasquilho, on Tuesday said that the airline “does not want to and will not divest in Porto and the north of the country”, but there must be conditions that allow greater presence.

Miguel Frasquilho noted that there were conditions for TAP to be more competitive at Porto airport, which serves “the most industrial area in the country” and a “major export hub”.

However, he pointed out that there must be “the right aircraft” to compete with other airlines that currently have a significant presence in that region. That is a different competition from what happens in Lisbon, where TAP has its hub.

“We are going to do our best so that TAP can be as big or bigger at Porto airport than before the pandemic, but never losing sight of the fact that our hub is in Lisbon,” he said.

Frasquilho acknowledged that TAP could have a “more robust” operation in the country’s other airports, namely in Madeira and the Azores.

“Be assured that TAP will not forget Madeira and will not forget any airport in the country,” he said.

Concerning the Azores, Frasquilho said that TAP was still committed to providing air service between Ponta Delgada and Boston in the United States.

According to Frasquilho, in the five years before 2019, TAP went from providing 278,000 seats between the Azores and the mainland to 650,000 seats.

In the same period, he continued, it went from 896,000 seats available on the Funchal-Lisbon route to 1.2 million, an increase of 31%.

“This is proof that we are always very attentive and want to continue to grow the operation in Madeira and the Azores,” he stressed. “We will also have to look at the Algarve”, he added.