TAP Air Portugal sales increased by 18% in the first half of 2018

TAP Air Portugal, the national company of Portugal, is developing well. In the first 6 months of this year, TAP recorded an increase of 18% of sales. On some routes, the increase was also 40%. As expected, the second half of 2018 will be better.

TAP will continue to invest in the modernization and development of the fleet, will continue the operational optimizations, will continue the restructuring process and will inaugurate new routes. Also in the second half of this year, TAP Air Portugal will begin operating commercial flights with the first Airbus A330-900 (A330neo) aircraft.

TAP Air Portugal sales increased

But let's go back to the first 6 months of 2018. TAP Air Portugal saw notable increases, over 15%, in the markets of Portugal, Brazil and North America. Together, the large 3 markets generated 56% of revenue.

Other markets with a positive trend were Austria (+ 44%), Germany (+ 42%), Great Britain (+ 28%) and Spain (+ 19%), all related to the same period from 2017.

The restructuring of TAP M&E Brasil led to the dismissal of approximately 1000 people, half of the subsidiary's workforce. Through this restructuring, but also through the application of a new sales policy, it led to an operating profit of approximately EUR 1 million, excluding restructuring costs.

Also in the first 6 months of 2018, TAP Air Portugal signed the new collective labor contracts with most of the departments within the company, which also involved wage increases. Thus, for the next 5 years, theoretically there should be no personnel problems.

Despite the increase in sales, the loss was 47 million EURO. We mention that during the first 6 months, the fuel tariff increased by 36%, which directly hit the operational cost and the operational loss.

In the second half of the 2018, slightly better results are expected. 6 will be much more active months, with more operational news. Including the introduction of the new A330neo on commercial flights.