26/09/18
The Board of Directors of TAP SPGS is meeting in Ponta Delgada. This is the first time the Board has met on the island of São Miguel in the Azores.
The visit comes as part of a TAP Board decision to decentralise their meetings.
"During this term of office, we have decided, for the first time in the company's history, to hold a series of rotating meetings of the Board. Naturally and obviously, we made a point of including the Autonomous Region of the Azores in the schedule. The Azores and the inhabitants of these islands are very important for TAP! The presence of all the Board members here today in Ponta Delgada, in this lovely archipelago, is proof of this: our commitment, the commitment of TAP to the Autonomous Region and all its inhabitants. TAP intends to start direct flights from the Azores to the USA in the near future. It will be difficult to accomplish this in the next year, but within two years or three at the most, this is certainly going to be a reality, Miguel Frasquilho, the Chairman of the TAP Group Board of Directors said.
The decentralisation of TAP Group Board meetings began in March, with the first meeting held in Porto and after that in Madeira. This is going to be repeated in other regions of the country with the aim of bringing the Company closer to the reality and needs of the main Portuguese cities and regions.
TAP operates 42 flights a week to the Azores during the IATA summer season (31 March to 31 October) with flights from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada, Lisbon to Terceira and Porto to Ponta Delgada. TAP has tripled the number of flights between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada compared to 2015, with 21 connections a week now instead of seven. It also operates a daily flight between Porto and Ponta Delgado, which began in 2018.
Up until August this year, the Company had carried more than 268,000 passengers to the Azores on all the international routes it operates, a 32% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of passengers TAP has carried to the Azores has increased by 97% compared to 2015. The increase in the number of passengers from outside Portugal is particularly relevant as they now account for 60% of sales. The largest markets for the Azores are Germany, Spain and France with sales up 61%, 94% and 9%, respectively since last year. The Stopover Programme, which was extended to the Azores last year, has continued to grow and has encouraged tourists to get to know two Portuguese destinations on the same journey.
"TAP brings tourists to the Azores from all over the world. European tourists have discovered the Azores and we believe that our passengers from the United States, where TAP is going to fly to even more next year, are going to follow the same path to discover this beautiful archipelago. TAP is going to continue to blaze a trail and promote this fantastic tourist destination, TAP's CEO Antonoaldo Neves said.
The Company is preparing a programme to promote the Azores called ´Taste Azores´, which includes strategic partnerships with regional companies and entities. One of the ideas is to publicise regional products from the Azores aboard TAP aircraft, not just on the route to the Azores, but on other routes in its network too.
TAP also recently paid homage to the Azores by naming one of its new Airbus A321neo planes Gonçalo Velho Cabral (1400-1460), the Portuguese navigator who is said to have first discovered the islands. This aircraft was the Company's third Airbus Neo out of an order of 71 new planes that TAP is going to receive by 2025.
The visit comes as part of a TAP Board decision to decentralise their meetings.
"During this term of office, we have decided, for the first time in the company's history, to hold a series of rotating meetings of the Board. Naturally and obviously, we made a point of including the Autonomous Region of the Azores in the schedule. The Azores and the inhabitants of these islands are very important for TAP! The presence of all the Board members here today in Ponta Delgada, in this lovely archipelago, is proof of this: our commitment, the commitment of TAP to the Autonomous Region and all its inhabitants. TAP intends to start direct flights from the Azores to the USA in the near future. It will be difficult to accomplish this in the next year, but within two years or three at the most, this is certainly going to be a reality, Miguel Frasquilho, the Chairman of the TAP Group Board of Directors said.
The decentralisation of TAP Group Board meetings began in March, with the first meeting held in Porto and after that in Madeira. This is going to be repeated in other regions of the country with the aim of bringing the Company closer to the reality and needs of the main Portuguese cities and regions.
TAP operates 42 flights a week to the Azores during the IATA summer season (31 March to 31 October) with flights from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada, Lisbon to Terceira and Porto to Ponta Delgada. TAP has tripled the number of flights between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada compared to 2015, with 21 connections a week now instead of seven. It also operates a daily flight between Porto and Ponta Delgado, which began in 2018.
Up until August this year, the Company had carried more than 268,000 passengers to the Azores on all the international routes it operates, a 32% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of passengers TAP has carried to the Azores has increased by 97% compared to 2015. The increase in the number of passengers from outside Portugal is particularly relevant as they now account for 60% of sales. The largest markets for the Azores are Germany, Spain and France with sales up 61%, 94% and 9%, respectively since last year. The Stopover Programme, which was extended to the Azores last year, has continued to grow and has encouraged tourists to get to know two Portuguese destinations on the same journey.
"TAP brings tourists to the Azores from all over the world. European tourists have discovered the Azores and we believe that our passengers from the United States, where TAP is going to fly to even more next year, are going to follow the same path to discover this beautiful archipelago. TAP is going to continue to blaze a trail and promote this fantastic tourist destination, TAP's CEO Antonoaldo Neves said.
The Company is preparing a programme to promote the Azores called ´Taste Azores´, which includes strategic partnerships with regional companies and entities. One of the ideas is to publicise regional products from the Azores aboard TAP aircraft, not just on the route to the Azores, but on other routes in its network too.
TAP also recently paid homage to the Azores by naming one of its new Airbus A321neo planes Gonçalo Velho Cabral (1400-1460), the Portuguese navigator who is said to have first discovered the islands. This aircraft was the Company's third Airbus Neo out of an order of 71 new planes that TAP is going to receive by 2025.
