During a series of airline briefings at Routes Reconnected, leaders of network planning teams will outline their recovery strategies, how they will identify new market opportunities and what support mechanisms will influence future route decisions.
As lockdowns ease, new market patterns, regulations and business practices are emerging. Those organizations that adapt most effectively will emerge strongest.
Portugal has become the latest European government to back its largest airline after increasing its existing stake in TAP Air Portugal from 50% to 72.5%.
TAP Air Portugal is resuming flights to North America later this week, with New York the first destination to make its way back onto the airline’s schedule. Three new routes will also be added to its schedule from July 1.
Venezuela has banned TAP Air Portugal from operating into the Venezuelan capital Caracas for a period of 90 days following what it described as “serious irregularities” in a recent flight.
A joint venture is nearing between Brazilian budget airline Azul and TAP Air Portugal, which would see the two carriers coordinate schedules and pricing on routes between Brazil and Europe.
The growth from Azul means there are now 18 airlines offering flights between Europe and Brazil, according to OAG data, and TAP Portugal dominates this market with over 900,000 one-way seats available this year, based on published schedules. This is a 23.9 percent share of the total market from Europe to Brazil.
In a deal to complete a long-awaited fleet renewal at PGA Portugália, which has been delayed for a number of years due to investment limitations, TAP will replace its current fleet of ATR turboprops, Embraer ERJ145s and Fokker 100s on a like-for-like basis with eight ATR 72s and nine Embraer 190s.
Madeira Airport in Portugal hopes to exceed the 2.5 million passenger per annum milestone this year after reaching a record high of 2.46 million passengers in 2014. The growth in demand has been supported by an increase in connectivity to the Portuguese archipelago.
The ANA airport group which is responsible for the management of airports in Mainland Portugal including Lisbon, Porto, Faro and the Beja civilian terminal, as well as airports in the Azores and Madeira Autonomous Regions, recorded a growth of 9.5 percent in commercial passenger traffic in 2014 compared to the previous year.
In 2004, airlines offered 7.7 million seats from Lisbon Airport but this rose to just under ten million seats last year, a 27.7 per cent rise. This year, based on existing published schedules, the airport will surpass the ten million figure for the first time with capacity set to rise 7.8 per cent.
