Latest news and stories about aviation in travel in Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal for expats and residents.
A TAP Air Portugal flight bound for Curitiba, Brazil, returned to Lisbon on Saturday after the captain declared an emergency. The Airbus A330 experienced a suspected depressurization issue at 30,000 feet, prompting a descent to 10,000 feet and a fuel-dumping maneuver before landing safely. No injuries were reported among those on board.
Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have submitted binding proposals to acquire a 49.9% stake in the Portuguese flag carrier, TAP Air Portugal. The state-owned holding company Parpública, which manages the government's business interests, will now evaluate the bids based on financial and strategic criteria before submitting a report to the government within 30 days.
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal’s flag-carrier airline, founded on 14 March 1945 as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses. It began operations in 1946 with Lisbon–Madrid and quickly opened the long “Linha Aérea Imperial” to Angola and Mozambique, symbolically linking mainland Portugal to its overseas territories. TAP entered the jet age in the 1960s, became Europe’s first all‑jet airline in 1967, and rebranded as TAP Air Portugal in 1979. Nationalised after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, it went through cycles of partial privatisation and renationalisation, remaining a strategic state‑controlled company due to its role in connectivity, tourism, exports, and the Portuguese diaspora, especially to Brazil, Africa, and North America. Today TAP operates an all‑Airbus fleet from its Lisbon hub, marketing itself as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Americas and as a key economic and symbolic asset for Portugal.
Parpública is a state-owned holding company (Parpública - Participações Públicas, SGPS, S.A.) that manages the Portuguese government's equity interests in various companies. It acts as the state's vehicle for handling privatization processes, such as the ongoing sale of a stake in the national airline, TAP Air Portugal.
Infrastructure limitations at Lisbon airport (Aeroporto de Lisboa) have resulted in 12% of requested flight slots for the summer season going unfulfilled. The National Air Navigation (Navegação Aérea de Portugal or NAV) warned that these capacity constraints are penalizing the tourism sector. Travelers should note that the lack of slots may limit flight options and keep ticket prices high during the peak season.
NAV Portugal (Navegação Aérea de Portugal) is the state-owned authority responsible for air traffic control and management in Portuguese airspace. It manages flight slots at major airports like Lisbon, where current infrastructure limits prevented the approval of 12% of requested slots for the upcoming summer season. Travelers should note that these capacity constraints frequently contribute to delays during peak periods.
The government has issued a formal warning to ANA regarding outdated passenger forecasts for the new airport, expressing concerns that the infrastructure will be undersized upon completion.
Data reveals that less than 18% of flights operating during the restricted midnight to 6:00 AM window at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport between 2023 and 2025 met the required 'force majeure' criteria.
The aviation group, which is in the final race for the privatisation of TAP, presented operating results that declined up to June.
Two European giants submitted binding purchase proposals for TAP to Parpública this Wednesday and remain confident. They assure that they will grow the company, maintain and strengthen the Lisbon hub, and the maintenance division. The amounts offered for the company were not disclosed.
According to the airline, the incident was caused by a technical issue
TAAG - Angola Airlines debuts the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner on the Luanda-Lisbon route today, marking the first commercial operation of this model on the company's connections to Europe, the carrier announced in a statement.
Delays for arrivals in Portugal at Lisbon Airport have been reduced, but the very negative image of the country remains and has had an impact on tourism.
TAP Air Portugal plans to carry 2.1 million passengers across 15 routes connecting Brazil and Portugal.
ANA has already submitted the Environmental Impact Study to increase the capacity of Humberto Delgado Airport from 38 to 40 movements per hour, reports Expresso. Construction is expected to begin in early 2027. The process will now proceed through the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) for several months, being subject to public consultation, and...
