TAP Portugal is the Portuguese leading airline, member of Star Alliance since March 14, 2005. Its Lisbon hub is a key European gateway at the crossroads of the African, North & South American continents, where TAP stands out as the leading carrier in operation to Brazil, with direct services to 10 different gateways.

In 2011 alone, TAP added 11 new destinations to its network, which translates into a significant expansion in the company’s reach. Thus, TAP’s current network comprises 75 domestic and international destinations in 34 countries world-wide, with an even greater range of cities beyond its own system-wide network served by code-share operations with a number of partner airlines all over the world.

All in all, TAP offers customers an extended and highly flexible choice while providing them with the most convenient scheduled flights and easy connectivity onto further distant destinations.

Along with PGA, its regional carrier acquired in 2007, TAP currently offers over 1,850 weekly flights in average, on a modern fleet of 55 Airbus aircraft with another 16 aircraft operating in PGA colours. In the whole, the Company’s current fleet now comprises 71 aircraft.

Quality service to customers is the company’s top priority and as such TAP continuously invests in innovation and new technologies, whose potentialities add to deliver safe, reliable and upgraded product and services tailored to meet customers’ expectations.

Retaining the Portuguese character of the Company’s brand and quality service as the basic concept has been the main driver of TAP strategy in most recent years.

TAP keeps abreast with change: the Company redesigned its commercial strategy, completed its medium haul fleet renewal, repositioned on main markets and is present in Social Networking Media.

TAP introduced in recent years a new commercial paradigm with the launch of new fare products aimed at different targets. Those were developed to meet customers’ different motivations and needs, including, altogether, a varied offer of features and services ranging from the best promotional prices to the best Business class service.

Launched a couple of years ago, those were meant to add more quality and flexibility to services offered to travellers along with a wider choice, a new focus on price and the strengthening of the Company’s transparency in communicating with the travelling public.

Therefore and in line with an orientation whose top priority is customers and living up to their expectations, TAP pursued its work, developing and upgrading the services and benefits extended to Customers, namely the premium passengers, with more personalized assistance service (when travelling from / to Lisbon airport) with new dedicated check-in facilities and a Premium Customer Centre in place ready to assist premium Customers in every need as well as a highly modern & sophisticated Premium Lounge available at Lisbon Hub.

The medium haul fleet renewal programme was completed a couple of years ago with success and on target. With those new A320-214’s in operation, considerable advantages in the quality of services and comfort offered to Customers on board were brought in, also enhancing the company’s environmental efficiency in eight per cent annually and adding to increased operations reliability.

During 2010, the consolidation of TAP’s repositioning on some of its main markets, such as Africa and Brazil, in South America, has been part of TAP current efforts to pursue sustainable growth, in adapting to the change in the marketplace as a whole, while increasing traffic figures and improving load factors in its system-wide Network at the same time.

In 2011, and making the best of the existing opportunities, TAP has launched 11 new destinations: Athens, Bordeaux, Dusseldorf, Manchester, Vienna and Dubrovnik, in Europe; Accra, Bamako and Sao Vicente, in Africa; Miami in the USA and Porto Alegre in Brazil.

With all those additions, TAP took an important step further towards the strengthening of its strategy in all Continents currently served: Europe, Africa, North & South America.

Especially in South America, TAP is reaffirming its leading positioning in the operations to Brazil. With the addition of its 10th destination – Porto Alegre – started last June, the company currently operates 74 weekly direct frequencies in average from Lisbon and Porto.

Moving on new paths and adopting the new tendencies and tools in communicating closer and more easily with its Customers, TAP has recently launched its own accounts in Facebook and Twitter along with its Youtube branded channel – www.youtube.com/tap as well.

Always focusing on delivering its promise to customers, TAP has just refurbished and renovated its website, now offering a new, faster and simpler site – www.flytap.com – which is friendly user, more intuitive and even more functional. In addition to all the functionalities previously available, customers can now access a lot more comprehensive & diversified information, easing their consultation and travel planning while allowing them a much better experience.

Highlights on recent awards

Awarded in 2007, at the WTM (World Travel Market) in the U.K., in recognition for its highly valuable contribution to the development of the Tourism industry in Portugal, TAP has more recently won several awards and accolades, amongst which the following are highlighted.

In 2009, TAP was recognized and awarded by the WTA (World Travel Awards) as the World’s Leading Airline to South America. Honoured by UNESCO and by the International Union of Geological Sciences with the IYPE “Planet Earth Award 2010”, in the category of Most Innovative Sustainable Product, in recognition of the achievements of the company’s Carbon Offset Programme, the first one launched worldwide in partnership with IATA (2009).

Voted the 3rd Best Airline in South Europe by Skytrax, TAP was recognized by the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine as the Best Airline (2010) and recently awarded, for the 7th consecutive time, as Best Airline by the Portuguese specialized trade newspaper Publituris.

More information available at www.flytap.com