What TAP Air Portugal shows us about the travel recovery

Portugal’s early successful vaccination rollout, allowing it to reopen sooner than its neighbors, has turned the destination into a favorite in Europe. But the country’s tourism rise has coincided with the airline’s steady recovery path — amid a government-funded restructuring and ongoing pandemic uncertainties. “Our capacity for this winter is already at 80 percent compared to 2019, and we are expecting to see a similar trend for next summer,” said Christine Ourmières-Widener, CEO of TAP Air Portugal, on Wednesday. “We didn’t really do significant changes in our network as far as the region we serve. It’s more we have been playing with frequency and the type of aircraft we are flying to some destinations.” The airline’s demand curve also varies from the rest of European carriers, Ourmières-Widener told Madhu Unnikrishnan, editor of Airline Weekly, in explaining TAP Air Portugal’s competitive edge, in spite of European low cost carriers’ presence in Portugal. Not serving Asia, for example, and flying to Brazil earlier than North American carriers — the airline’s second largest market outside of Portugal, with a significant increase in bookings coming in — meant dealing with fewer border restrictions and hurdles. Story has more.<br/>