TAP Air Portugal had a record-breaking 2018 the carrier has revealed in its latest figures, carrying more than 15 million people last year.
A total of 15.8 million people flew with the growing carrier last year, which is 1.5 million more than travelled with the carrier in 2017. An impressive growth rate of 10.4% well above the growth rate of most of its European contemporaries.
TAP's North American routes grew 9.6%, carrying an additional 70,000 passengers year over year, for a total of 800,000 on the routes. In June this year, TAP is tripling service between Newark and Porto and adding service to Lisbon from three new US markets: Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
TAP’s European routes (excluding Portugal), carried 932,000 passengers more than in 2017, for 10.7 %, to a total of almost 10 million people flying on the routes.
On flights between Lisbon, Porto and Faro, TAP transported -- for the first time -- more than one million passengers, reaching a record 1.1 million, representing a growth of 9.4 % over the previous year.
The flights between the mainland and the Azores and Madeira recorded the highest relative growth of 13.5%, totalling 1.3 million passengers, 156,000 more than the previous year.
TAP’s African routes showed considerable passenger growth, with 116,000 more flying than in 2017, for a total of 1.1 million passengers, or an increase of 11.3%.
The airline’s routes to Brazil also continued to see a strong increase in the number of passengers transported over the past year. In total, TAP transported 1.7 million passengers between Portugal and Brazil, to and from the 11 cities it serves in the country, which increased 124,000 people over 2017, for 7.8 % growth.
As for the main indicators used in the air transport industry, in terms of ASK (available seat kilometres, a measure of available seats), TAP had, in 2018, a 12.3% growth, for a total of 47 million. The RPK (Revenue Passenger Kilometers, a measure for seat demand) increased by 9.6 percent to a total of 38 million. Both indicators show that the TAP growth is well above the industry growth averages at European and global level.
With an increase in supply (ASK) of 2.7 percentage points higher than the increase in demand (RPK), the load factor was 81 percent, two percentage points less than in 2017, placing TAP's occupancy rate at levels similar to the average of other European companies (81.7 percent) and above the world average which, in 2018, was close to 80 percent (publicly released data by IATA relating to the cumulative until November, 2018).
TAP is Portugal’s leading airline and a member of the global airline Star Alliance since 2005. Flying since 1945, TAP celebrated its 70th anniversary on March 14, 2015, before completing its privatization process later that year, now with the Atlantic Gateway Group as private shareholders.
TAP’s network comprises 84 destinations in 34 countries worldwide. The airline currently operates around 2,500 weekly flights, with a modern fleet of 63 Airbus aircraft. TAP Express, the airline’s regional arm, operates an additional 17 aircraft.
With TAP’s privatization process, it has restructured its network, launched new fare products and is renewing its medium and long-haul fleet. TAP has 53 Airbus neo aircraft on order and, by 2020, its long-haul fleet will either have been replaced with new aircraft or newly reconfigured aircraft. TAP Express now operates a new fleet of 8 ATR 72 and 9 Embraer 190.
