TAP Portugal

TAP Portugal is the flag carrier airline of Portugal.^[1] Its headquarters and hub are at Lisbon Portela Airport. TAP operates about 2,000 flights a week to 88 destinations in 38 countries worldwide.

History

TAP Portugal was founded on March 14, 1945. It began flying on September 19, 1945. ^[2] It's first flight was from Lisbon to Madrid. ^[3] The one-millionth passenger flew on TAP on 19 June 1964, 18 years after the airline began operations. In 1969, TAP began flying New York City.^[4] Boston was added to the New York service in 1970. TAP bought Boeing 747 airplanes during the 1970s. In 1975, TAP was nationalized, becoming a state-owned corporation (Empresa Pública) and changing its name to TAP Air Portugal in March 1979. TAP became a member of Star Alliance in 2005. ^[5]

Douglas DC-4 of TAP arriving at London Heathrow Airport from Lisbon in 1954
Sud Aviation Caravelle VI-R of TAP at London Heathrow Airport in 1966
Rossio Square, Lisbon, in June 1968, showing a TAP advertisement in the background at night
A TAP Air Portugal L-1011-500 at Lisbon Portela Airport in 1988
A TAP Air Portugal A340-300 in first livery in 1995
Former Fokker 100 of TAP Air Portugal subsidiary Portugália Airlines
TAP Air Portugal tail fins
David Neeleman, co-owner of TAP between privatisation in 2015 and renationalisation in 2020, also the founder of jetBlue, WestJet and Azul
Miguel Antunes Frasquilho, Chairman of TAP since 2017 until March 2023