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Portugália Airlines is a
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
regional airline with its head office on the grounds of Lisbon Portela Airport in Lisbon. It is a subsidiary of TAP Air Portugal and operates scheduled international and domestic services from its bases at Lisbon Airport and
Porto Airport Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport (formerly ''Pedras Rubras Airport'') is an international airport near Porto (Oporto), Portugal. It is located northwest of the Clérigos Tower in the centre of Porto, in the municipalitie ...
on behalf of
TAP Express TAP Express (TAP standing for ''Transportes Aéreos Portugueses'') is a Portuguese regional airline brand name for TAP Air Portugal which operates short and medium-haul routes. TAP Air Portugal's lone wholly owned regional airline, Portugália ...
. It will be merged into TAP Portugal during 2022.


History


Early years

The airline was established on 25 July 1988 as a joint-stock company, but had to wait two years before it could start services, due to a delay in air transport liberalization. It started operations on 7 July 1990 with a flight from Lisbon to Porto. It also flew from Lisbon to Faro that same day. It started operations with scheduled domestic and international charter flights, as scheduled international flights were not then permitted under Portuguese legislation. International scheduled flights started in June 1992 from Lisbon and Porto. The company's first airplanes were Fokker 100, and since the late 1990s it has also purchased 8
Embraer 145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...
, becoming the main competitor of state flag carrier TAP Air Portugal. Operating in the regional market, Portugália focused its operation in domestic routes, as well as on destinations in Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Morocco. The company's fleet stabilized in 2000 with 14 aircraft (6 Fokker 100 and 8 Embraer 145) still operating today. Portugália developed its own maintenance services since its earliest days, however it only managed to have its own Hangar and to increase its base maintenance capabilities as of 2005 with the opening of its Hangar at Lisbon Portela Airport. Performing most of its Fokker and Embraer maintenance in house, Portugália managed to significantly improve its results. Portugália received the title of ''Best Regional Airline'' in Europe, in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, the Skytrax Award for Best Cabin Staff in Europe, in 2005 and 2006, and for Best Cabin Staff in Southern Europe, in 2007.


Integration into TAP Air Portugal Group

On 6 November 2006, TAP and Portugalia owners Grupo Espirito Santo, announced TAP's acquisition of 99.81% of Portugalia shares, subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. It had 750 employees (at March 2007). Portugalia was to join the
SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld, respectively. Its annual passenger count is 630 million ...
Alliance in 2008. With the acquisition by TAP Air Portugal Group it undertakes a new business model. The company stops working independently and starts working within a group logic as a supplier of flight capacity by hiring its aircraft to TAP Air Portugal. Fernando Pinto, president & CEO of TAP Air Portugal said that the airline's regional subsidiary, Portugália Airlines, is "important to the TAP results as it brings very important passengers from small cities to long distance services.", during
European Regional Airlines Association The European Regions Airline Association is a trade association of European regional airlines and associated businesses. It was founded as the European Regional Airlines Association in 1980, by a small number of what were then known as ''commuter ...
2012 conference in
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
. On 21 March 2014, TAP Air Portugal announced that it would buy two
ATR 42-600 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and A ...
for its subsidiary company Portugália replacing the smaller
Beechcraft 1900D The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...
previously operated by PGA Express. However,
White Airways White Airways S.A. (also known as White) is a Portuguese charter airline headquartered in Porto Salvo, Oeiras. It mainly operates charter flights from Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport on behalf of tour operators as well as on lease on behalf of ...
now operates the ATRs family on behalf of TAP Air Portugal instead of Portugália.


Rebranding to TAP Express

On 14 January 2016, TAP Air Portugal announced that Portugália would be rebranded as
TAP Express TAP Express (TAP standing for ''Transportes Aéreos Portugueses'') is a Portuguese regional airline brand name for TAP Air Portugal which operates short and medium-haul routes. TAP Air Portugal's lone wholly owned regional airline, Portugália ...
as of 27 March 2016 as part of the restructuring measures within the group. The division Portugália Airlines however was said to stay independent within the group. On the same day, TAP Air Portugal also announced that the entire Portugália fleet consisting of Fokker 100 and
Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...
would be replaced by July 2016 with new Embraer 190 and
ATR 72-600 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
aircraft (the latter operated by
White Airways White Airways S.A. (also known as White) is a Portuguese charter airline headquartered in Porto Salvo, Oeiras. It mainly operates charter flights from Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport on behalf of tour operators as well as on lease on behalf of ...
on behalf of TAP) which received a livery similar to that of TAP Air Portugal albeit wearing ''Express'' titles. In April 2022, it has been announced that Portugália will be dissolved and fully integrated into TAP Portugal as part of cost cutting and restructuring measures.aviation.direct - "Portugália Airlines to be merged with TAP"
(German) 15 April 2022


Destinations

Portugália operates within the route network of
TAP Express TAP Express (TAP standing for ''Transportes Aéreos Portugueses'') is a Portuguese regional airline brand name for TAP Air Portugal which operates short and medium-haul routes. TAP Air Portugal's lone wholly owned regional airline, Portugália ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portugália Airlines Airlines of Portugal Portuguese brands TAP Air Portugal Airlines established in 1988 Portuguese companies established in 1988