Tap is expanding the Embraer E190 fleet through its regional subsidiary Portugália. A union criticizes the choice of aircraft type – and refers to the fully utilized Lisbon Airport.
In the Corona crisis, the Portuguese state of Tap secured its survival. He took over once more control of the airline. Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos stated at the end of 2020 that the fleet would shrink by 20 aircraft for the purpose of restructuring, but that the regional subsidiary Portugália flying under the Tap Express brand with its lower costs would grow.
After phasing out ATR’s tubroprop aircraft, Portugália will “double the Embraer fleet to 26 aircraft,” Nuno Santos said at the time. This process is running. The airline told the newspaper Dinheiro Vivo that the growth plan approved by the EU now envisages six new Embraer aircraft, three of which are already there. The first has been in operation since June 1st.
Four E190s on wet lease for this summer
The other two E190s are also scheduled to go into service in July. The remaining three are delayed, necessitating a different solution as demand is increasing rapidly this summer. Portugália is temporarily renting four additional E190s and their crews. Three are from Bulgaria Air and one is from the British Eastern Airways.
However, the Portuguese pilots do not like all of this. Their union SPAC criticizes the decision for the small planes from Embraer. She refers, of all things, to statements by Minister Nuno Santos that Lisbon Airport will soon be full and may have to refuse flights in 2023.
forced to fly more
“Choosing Embraer’s planes means using smaller aircraft and forcing more flights for the same number of travelers,” the union argued. At a home airport with a very limited number of slots, this is the wrong choice, especially since Tap has phased out larger Airbus jets. In the course of the aid, the airline already had to pay 18 of the Provide slots for take-offs and landings in Lisbon.
