Demand is recovering slowly, but TAP doesn’t expect new redundancies

  • ECO News
  • 13 October 2021

Christine Ourmières-Widener says TAP is looking at new routes, but it will be a cautious process. Priority is to consolidate the main markets.

The world is returning to normality, but the recovery in the aviation sector is still slow, says TAP’s CEO, despite people being “desperate” to travel again. However, Christine Ourmières-Widener claims the airline is not considering further redundancies.

“TAP is flying more again, (…) but demand today is in a very slow recovery,” the CEO said this Wednesday during the Portugal Air Summit. “We have to be very cautious about the virus development but, from a business perspective, we see a slow recovery in demand.”

Still, the company envisages no more redundancies. “We currently have no plans to launch a new redundancy process,” said Christine Ourmières-Widener. According to the company, since the redundancy process began, around 2,000 workers have left TAP.

The company CEO says she is confident – but also realistic – that the recovery plan will save TAP. “We have no reason to think that the restructuring plan is not what we need to restructure the company. I think TAP has immense potential,” she said. “I am optimistic, but also realistic.”

Christine Ourmières-Widener also stated that the company is studying new routes. “We will explore new destinations, yes, but we will be very cautious. First, we want to consolidate our core markets,” she explained.