Portuguese airline company TAP registered a success-packed year in 2013 living up to the company’s high expectations.
In the words of TAP President Fernando Pinto, the company registered an “excellent” summer with two “exceptional” months afterwards and a satisfying December. As a result, the number of passengers grew 5% to 10.7 million without changing the company’s fleet or flight capacity – a percentage which is three to four times higher than its European competitors.
“Just like previous years, TAP grew more than its European counterparts,” the Vice-President of TAP Luiz Mór told online newspaper Dinheiro Vivo. “The numbers from national airports also show that our company grew more (in Portugal) than all traditional and low cost airlines,” he added.
Despite the fact that other European companies did not register such positive results, most of the over 445,000 new passengers that the airline received came from Europe. The continent accounted for 85% of the total.
But African and South American markets also strengthened their tie to TAP. The number of passengers grew 7.5% in Africa compared to the previous year, allowing the airline to “strengthen its position in a strategic continent”. In South America, the numbers grew 12.6% in Venezuela, and Brazil once again registered a high flight occupation rate.
The airline explained, nonetheless, that its positive results were due mostly to a considerable number of foreigners visiting Portugal, especially from Europe.
With 8% traffic growth registered in December, many flights already booked, six new aircraft on the way and the opening of 10 new routes, hopes are high that 2014 will be even better.
