Huge investments in TAP Air Portugal could help turn the airline and its home country of Portugal into a major conduit for travel between North America and Europe, Business Insider reported June 24, 2018.
Led by co-owner (along with the Portuguese government) David Neeleman, who helped found JetBlue and several other airlines, TAP is spending $900 million to improve its aircraft fleet and service.
“The first thing we did was payroll [ie paid our staff], and then we placed an order with Airbus for 71 brand new airplanes,” said Neeleman. The airline’s entire fleet will therefore consist of new Airbus A330neo planes and other current generation aircraft by the end of 2019, according to TAP.
TAP showed off its newest A330-900neo jet on a visit to Miami last weekend, which includes the redesigned interior that will become the template for TAP’s entire fleet. Airbus says the new A330 variant, now on global “proving flights” with TAP, will have a longer range than previous versions and fuel efficiency similar to Boeing’s 787, Airline Geeks reported.
