TAP Air Portugal’s Transatlantic Advantage: The Airbus A321LR

In April 2019, TAP Air Portugal took delivery of its first Airbus A321LR. This plane has been pushing the limits of long-haul travel for a single-aisle jet in the current era. Simple Flying this week spoke with Ricardo Dinis, TAP’s Sales Director for UK, Ireland and the Nordics, about how the narrowbody gives his company a competitive advantage across the Atlantic Ocean.

[vermillion]

I like these airline showcase videos that focus more on the fleet and future plans as opposed to their history.

[gmjacobs]

Literally on a layover in Lisbon flying the A330 Neo from Chicago. It wasn’t a full flight, so I think an A321 LR offering for off-season flights makes huge amounts of sense! It was already a fairly cheap flight especially for Econ Extra, but it would be nice if they can maximize a smaller aircraft and drop prices even more to match the savings!

[andrewmpachetti]

I love TAP. I fly many times a year to and from Portugal on the A330 neo and A321LR. They never fail to disappoint and their hard and soft products have increased massively since the days of the A330 ceo and A340.

[kyleb]

I flew on them back in 2019! Great airline, seats were also comfortable on the A321LR. I flew on CS-TXA to Porto from EWR, and then CS-TXB from Porto to EWR on the roundtrip!

[papi]

TAP is such a great airline with a brilliant hub location

[chrismckellar]

TAP Air Portugal is seeing and showing how versatile the A321LR is, as a short to medium. long haul aircraft.

[stevesmith-ogvb]

A fantastic a diverse fleet of aircraft.

[maximlabelle]

I have flown to Madeira in an 321neo and its one of the best experiences I've had in Europe same with the e190

[soniasantos]

Sou Pt, viajei em montes de companhias áreas, inclusive americanas (TWA e outras, que já desapareceram), mas a TAP
dá-me segurança . O serviço é péssimo para voos do domésticos mas é a TAP, tenho confiança!!

[maynardhogg]

I'll have to consider TAP for my next trip to Portugal. Flying direct from North America sounds more efficient than transfering in LHR, CDG, or FRA. The nearest airport served by TAP is Toronto (YYZ), three time zones east of here on the West Coast (YVR).
Update: I've checked the routings. One of the cheaper options combines WestJet and Easyjet. Via CDG, alas. TAP from YYZ is much quickter.

[eamonahern]

Speaking of the A321, I noticed on the flight radar 24 app recently that Aer Lingus used one on a Dublin to JFK trans Atlantic flight

[Loud_Mouth_Soup]

They run them out of Toronto, as well. We almost booked it for a longer stopover, Toronto-Lisbon-Manchester.

[neilpickup]

Apart from the short-field performance where the now ageing 757 remains King, I think it would be a very blinkered person who fails to accept that the A321 is now the best at what it does.

What an opportunity, the once great Boeing missed, but, who knows what the future may bring!

[soniasantos]

Fico doida quando a grande preocupação central é o serviço a bordo ( alimentação etc..), eu preocupo-me é com a segurança. por isso escolho a TAP.

[DANGERDi]

TAP's biggest advantage is its location

[pianemova]

Living in Portugal as an expat, I can say TAP is a hit or miss, or it is good or it is a nightmare.... it depends how lucky you are...

[evandromoro]

I’ve just arrived from a return trip to Newark on these new A321LR. They’re quite modern and very quiet indeed. It’s nice that the boarding and disembarking process are quick, due to their sizes. Another nice tough is that internet is available onboard and texting (WhatsApp and iMessage) is available for free. It was a shame though that on our return to Europe journey the plane was just half full… Given their business model (“flying thinner routes with smaller aircraft to it’s easier to fill the plane”) I’m not so sure if they were happy it. Also, but unrelated to the video, Portuguese authorities can be quite confusing with the laws and regulations for Covid and codeshares, so be prepared for a queue and make sure you have got all the paperwork ready 👍🏻

[madrockxvx]

Why are you showing CEOs almost every time you mention the NEO?

[MadMadCommando]

I think there’s a potential for a successful Portuguese ULCC that operates narrow bodies like the A220 between the americas and destinations in Europe by way of the Azores islands

[robk]

In 2015 when I was in Madeira, one of the locals called TAP by their local not so nice nickname of Take Another Plane. Fast forward a few months, and I'm on a TAP A320 flying the LHR-LIS route. Great service, but the flag carriers always seem to reserve their best service for their international routes.

Between the location of their LIS hub and the newer Airbus offerings, they are in a great location to run narrowbody aircraft all over the Atlantic. I could only imagine how they'd be able to use the A321XLR on their network.