16/06/19

TAP begins flights to Washington DC

Portuguese airline completes series of new route launches to North America this year:
  • First direct TAP flight between Lisbon and Washington-Dulles is in the air.
  • Five flights a week between Lisbon and Washington.
  • Fourfold increase in the number of North American destinations served.
At 16:30 on Sunday, TAP flight TP231 left Lisbon, launching the direct service between the Portuguese capital and Washington DC. This is the last of three American destinations the Portuguese airline has launched this summer.

The new direct route between Portugal and Washington-Dulles consolidates the airline’s commitment to the North American market and enhances the growth it has recorded so far. The number of passengers carried in the North Atlantic market has grown by 176.5% between 2015 and 2018, accompanied by an almost fourfold increase in the number of available seats over the same time and a rise in the number of destinations served since 2015, when TAP’s only US destinations were Newark and Miami.

Flights between Lisbon and Washington DC, the city that symbolises US democracy, will operate five times a week, leaving Lisbon at 16:30 and arriving at Dulles at 19:40 local time. The flights then leave Washington at 22:40, arriving in the Portuguese capital at 10:50 the next day. 

The airline’s website has flights from EUR 253 (one-way including taxes) and more information about what to do and where to stay in Washington, a city of politics and picturesque neighbourhoods, complete with a cultural and artistic scene allowing you to embrace American culture. 

On 1 June, TAP launched its service to Chicago, then on 10 June – Portugal Day – it began operating flights between the Portuguese capital and San Francisco. The launch of these three new routes to the USA was completed on Sunday with the inaugural flight between Lisbon and Washington DC.

The airline will launch flights to another five new destinations this summer: to Conakry and Banjul from Lisbon, and to Brussels, Lyon and Munich from Porto. With these new routes, the TAP network will grow to 91 cities in 37 countries. 

This solid growth by TAP is supported by a substantial enhancement and modernisation of the airline's fleet, the only one in the world to operate the entire NEO family of aircraft, Airbus’s most modern generation. TAP has ordered 71 new aircraft: 21 A330neo, 19 A320neo, 17 A321neo and 14 A321neo Long Range.