TAP launches new Azores route to America

It is kind of encouraging that, amidst the gloom, some airlines are daring to launch new routes and connect new city pairs.

One of them is Wizz Air, which not even a month after announcing its new Saint Petersburg base, added a second A320 and five new routes out of the Russia’s Northern capital.

A few thousands miles further West, TAP Air Portugal, undeterred by financial turbulence and ownership changes has also been busy planning network expansions. At the peak of the pandemic lockdowns, It surprised everyone by announcing the upcoming launch of some new routes to places such as Cancun and Cape Town.

And another new niche route that has just materialized links the mid-Atlantic archipelago of the Azores to Boston Logan.

The thrice-weekly service between Boston Logan and Ponta Delgada will be operated by an Airbus A321LR, an aircraft that is expected to play a major role in TAP’s fleet (those interested in what was, at least until now, TAP’s strategy can check this interview I did with David Neeleman for The Points Guy).

The Azores’ (almost) mid-ocean location makes it quite an interesting place from an aeronautical perspective. Not for nothing the Allies established an airbase here during WW2 (despite Portugal remaining officially neutral).

TAP will be competing on the Boston run with the archipelago’s home airline, Azores Airlines (formerly known as SATA), that has recently attracted some interest from Icelandic investors, who, perhaps tempted by the opportunities for intercontinental-hopping that the islands offer, happen to be also involved with the airlines of another Portuguese-speaking archipelago further south in the Atlantic, Cape Verde.

By the way, it must be noted that, at the time of writing these lines (21st July 2020), there are some restrictions in place to enter Portugal from the United States, namely the requirement to be in possession of a Covid-19 negative test result that is less than 72 hours old or performing the test upon arrival (at the travellers’ expense). You can check the latest safety notices from TAP Air Portugal here.

(btw, we also talked about TAP’s covid-related safety programme on this recent episode of the Allplane podcast with TAP’s communications representative)

As a side note, if you wish to learn more about the experience of flying TAP Air Portugal, you can also check our flight reviews of TAP business class on, both, A320 and A330 respectively (no A321LR flight report yet)