TAP commercial operation running at 50% of capacity

TAP’s new executive chairman, Christine Ourmières-Widener, revealed in a message sent to its clients on Tuesday that the airline’s commercial operation is still at “approximately” 50% of its total capacity in 2019.

“Right now, we are resuming our commercial operation at approximately 50% of our capacity compared to 2019 levels,” said Christine Ourmières-Widener in a note sent to its clients. The wish of TAP’s new CEO is that the pandemic “will be contained very soon” thanks to vaccination and that “the borders will be fully opened.”

To the clients, she thanks them for their “support and loyalty” in a period of difficulty during which they felt the impact of the “many cancelled flights”. “Since the beginning of this crisis, TAP has responded to over 93% of the total requests from its clients, including requests for refunds,” the CEO explained.

TAP has been waiting six months for the European Commission to give the “green light” to its restructuring plan. Questioned recently by ECO, the European Commission has stated that it “continues to contact the Portuguese authorities about the company’s restructuring plan” and that “the assessment is ongoing.” It also does not commit to any date: “We cannot anticipate the timing or outcome of our assessment.”