TAP’s market share falls to 28% in Q2

In a quarter marked by a strong recovery in air traffic, TAP saw its share in Portugal fall to 28.3%. The second quarter allowed, nevertheless, to recover its share in Lisbon, with the company carrying 47% of passengers. Data from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) also shows that Porto and several airports in the autonomous regions are already above the levels recorded in 2019.

Between April and June, there were 119,000 movements at national airports, through which 14.49 million passengers were carried, an increase of 329% year-on-year and 98.4% quarter-on-quarter.

This increase did not benefit all airlines equally. Although the number of customers increased substantially, TAP saw its importance in the market decline. According to the information released by the ANAC, the company recorded a 28.3% share between April and June, down from 30.1% in the first quarter and 33.7% in the same period of 2019.

The Portuguese carrier managed, however, to strengthen its weight at its hub, Lisbon airport, increasing its share to 47%, up from 45% in the first three months of the year. In 2019, it was 51%.

TAP increased its relative importance at almost all airports, except for Faro, where it dropped to just 3%, appearing in last place on the list of the top ten airlines. The Algarve infrastructure was by far the fastest growing in the second quarter, with passenger numbers increasing by 255% to 2.7 million.

The gap between TAP and the low-cost airlines has narrowed, although Ryanair’s market share fell from 23.2% to 21.9%. The Irish airline lost ground in Lisbon (12%) but maintained its leadership in Porto and Faro by carrying 35% of passengers. The quarter was also marked by the return to Funchal, with a 17% share.

As for EasyJet, the airline’s market share increased to 13.3% due to its growth in Lisbon, carrying 9% of all passengers. A market share that will increase after winning the tender to take over the 18 slots at Humberto Delgado (Lisbon) that TAP was forced to give up as part of the restructuring plan. At the end of July, the company announced that starting from October it will operate 13 new routes to eight destinations.

Besides EasyJet, companies such as Lufthansa, Vueling and Jet2.com also saw their market share increase. The quarterly bulletin also shows a decline in the influence of the four largest airlines (TAP, Ryanair, EasyJet, and Transavia), which accounted for 57.8% of the market in the second quarter, down from 61.4% between January and March.