The Portuguese carrier TAP Air Portugal flew more than 640,000 customers on more than 3,100 flights between Europe and Brazil during the first half of 2022, experiencing a massive 526% increase compared to the previous year.A third of the marketThe market between Portugal and Brazil is contested by three carriers, Azul Linhas Aéreas, LATAM Brazil, and TAP Air Portugal. These airlines offer 94 weekly flights between both countries on 13 routes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this market was deeply impacted in 2020 and 2021, but it seems to be turning a corner.
So far in 2022, the Portuguese flag carrier flew more than 640,000 customers on more than 3,100 flights, grabbing nearly a third (28%) of the whole market share of all passengers flown between Europe and Brazil. The South American country is also served by Air Europa, Air France, ITA Airways (the airline began flying its Airbus A350 to São Paulo a few days ago), British Airways, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, and Turkish Airlines. There are around 222 weekly flights between Brazil and Europe, and TAP operates 33% of them.
During the first half of 2022, TAP operated 3,129 flights and was the third-largest international airline in the number of take-offs, representing a massive increase of 130% compared to the same period in 2021. This summer, TAP will operate 76 flights a week between Portugal and Brazil, the largest number of flights by a foreign airline flying to Brazil.
A core market
Ricardo Dinis, TAP Country Manager for the UK & Ireland, said: “Brazil is a core market for TAP, and as the main international airline linking Europe and Brazil, we have matched the soaring customer demand with a significant boost in flights during the last six months.”
He added that Portugal’s popularity as a gateway to Brazil continues to rise, and the airline’s 86% capacity levels, compared to pre-pandemic flights, is an indication that TAP is increasing its market share.
“We are attracting more and more customers to fly to our extensive Brazilian destinations, many of which we are the only European carrier offering transatlantic connections. With a wide network of more than ninety destinations worldwide, the continued strengthening of TAP’s transatlantic frequencies is a strong sign of our continued recovery,” Dinis said.
TAP connects Europe to 11 cities in Brazil from its Lisbon hub, flying to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Natal, Maceió, Porto Alegre, Recife and Salvador. The airline also connects Porto with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
ANGOAVIAÇÃO 