TAP Adding Los Angeles Flights: Finally!!
Intro
TAP, Air Portugal, is an airline based out of Lisbon that primarily connects passengers from Europe to South America (most of their traffic to Portuguese-speaking countries). However, TAP also operates to seven destinations in the US up until now, but the one they haven't served flights to has been LAX. That is changing!
Lisbon-Los Angeles
Starting May 2025, TAP will serve a seasonal route from Lisbon to Los Angeles, with the first flight departing on May 16th and the final flight arriving in Lisbon on October 25th. As with most of their long-haul flights, TAP will utilize an A330-900neo for this route, featuring 34 business class seats, 96 economyXtra seats, and 168 economy seats.
The route will operate on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with the following schedule:
TP247: Lisbon-Los Angeles departing 9:55 AM arriving 2:40 PM
TP248: Los Angeles-Lisbon departing 4:40 PM arriving 12:00 PM (+1 day)
In addition, TAP will be launching 4x weekly seasonal flights from Boston to Porto with an A321LR, as well as once-a-week service from Terceira to San Francisco on an A330-900neo (cool route).
My Thoughts
Seeing as my home base is LAX, I've always wanted TAP to get into the market here for personal reasons. As I just wrote about with the United expansion to Beijing, Los Angeles is a tricky market due to the amount of competition from different airlines. However, it seems that this will be a good addition for TAP during the summer season, especially considering that demand during winter in South America is low.
I am still unsure as to how this route is going to turn out. I know that United has an ever-growing footprint in Los Angeles for certain connecting traffic, but will it be enough to get a decent load factor on this route for TAP? Only time shall tell, although I presume if this route does well seasonally, it will be upgraded to year-round.
Final Thoughts
TAP, Air Portugal, will be launching a 4x weekly summer seasonal service from Lisbon to Los Angeles beginning in 2025. This route makes a lot of sense due to the lack of demand for South America in the winter (flips seasons), and I am personally excited about it. In addition, TAP will launch seasonal service from Boston to Porto and 1x weekly service from Terceira to San Francisco.
Comments