TAP wants to reinforce its presence in Porto and adopt a growth strategy that goes beyond the centrality of Lisbon, within the scope of the strategic plan for 2026. According to the Lusa news agency, the company’s executive president, Luís Rodrigues, stated in BTL that “the time when Portugal was Lisbon has passed” and defended a more balanced approach to the national territory, with a special focus on the North.
The intervention took place during the public presentation of the carrier’s guidelines for the coming years, at a time when the company seeks to consolidate operations and expand routes from different parts of the country.
Investment of 20 million creates 200 jobs
One of the most visible signs of this commitment is the installation of a maintenance base in Porto. According to the same source, the investment is around 20 million euros and should allow the creation of around 200 qualified jobs.
“The fact that we are installing a maintenance base in Porto is also a demonstration of this”, said Luís Rodrigues, quoted by the news agency, framing the decision as part of the strategy to enhance the North region.
New routes start from Porto
On an operational level, the company announced new connections from Porto airport. It is already known that TAP will open routes to Terceira, Praia and Tel Aviv, reinforcing international and domestic connectivity from that city.
The executive president maintained that there is “huge market potential in the north”, adds the same source, arguing that growth must be carried out in a structured and sustainable way.
Luís Rodrigues highlighted that the company does not intend to move forward hastily. “We have to know how to explore in a sustainable way, so that we don’t systematically go back and forth,” he said.
The manager added that TAP wants to “take these steps calmly, in partnership with all relevant entities, so that the strategy is one that allows us to grow consistently”.
“The country is more than Lisbon”
In the same intervention, the transport company’s top boss reinforced the idea of decentralization. “The country is more than Lisbon”, he declared, arguing that the company should look at the territory as a whole.
According to , Luís Rodrigues also stated that “TAP is prevented from doing political favors”, framing the reinforcement of its presence in the North within a logic of economic sustainability of the operation and not in decisions of a cyclical nature.
Plan 2026 includes new international connections
The strategic plan for 2026 also includes the launch of the Lisbon-Orlando route, in the United States, in addition to two new destinations in Brazil, Curitiba and São Luís do Maranhão. These connections come in the year in which the company marks 60 years of regular flights to that country.
The carrier also indicated that, this year, it will have “the largest operation ever in places offered” for the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. Even so, the focus of the speech was on Porto, presented as a central piece in a strategy that aims to affirm that the national aviation map no longer ends in the capital.
Also read:
