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TAP begins direct flights from Madeira to Madrid

2nd April 2008 Print
With the IATA Summer period now approaching TAP is consolidating its investments for the coming months as already announced in January in the BTL. The aim is to improve the service offered to customers implemented in connections to Madeira by means of an increased number of flights and the creation of a new direct destination.

The situation for flights serving Madeira will be as follows:

Lisbon/Funchal: Creation of a new flight from July thru September to add to the eight regular daily flights;

Porto / Funchal: Creation of a new flight time (the third one) at the start of the IATA Summer Period. With the increase in flights between Porto and Madeira, air flights from and to this region will also benefit from this extra scheduling;

Lisbon to Porto/Porto Santo: The three current direct flights a week to Lisbon are maintained increasing to four during the months of peak demand, a period during which there will also be a weekly flight between Porto and Porto Santo;
NB: Availability to increase the number of flights between the Continent and Madeira during periods when demand justifies this is also reaffirmed;

Funchal / Caracas: A single direct flight a week is maintained and increased to 2 and even 3 during periods of peak demand;

Funchal / London: One flight a day is to be maintained;

Funchal / Madrid: A new weekly connection will operate between July 5 and for now thru to September 27.

TAP will also maintain is commercial agreement with SATA enabling it to offer its customers two more flights a day between Lisbon and Funchal plus a direct weekly connection between Funchal and Paris.

In short, TAP is not only maintaining but increasing direct flights between Madeira and the Continent and between Madeira and foreign airports.

Flight schedules, times and prices from Madeira to Europe with connection in Lisbon remain unchanged.

From the beginning of the IATA Summer Period, TAP is to discontinue the so-called through flights between Madeira and a range of European destinations (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Paris and Frankfurt). These are flights with a stopover in Lisbon but with the same number on both legs with which the aim is to offer passengers easier transit.

However, precisely the same connections, times and prices are to be maintained and passengers will be able to continue to perform their check-in and baggage dispatch thru to their final destination.

This measure results from the observation that it was operationally impossible to implement our intended objectives thus implying that it was already not possible to offer the passenger transit conditions we had hoped for in the majority of situations. Thus, passengers traveling between Funchal and the aforementioned cities will continue flying at the exact same times but we must point out that they may have to change aircraft in Lisbon, as was previously the case.

To compensate the requirement of paying additional airport charges as a result of this new flight numbering, TAP has decided to lower ticket tariffs by an equal amount so customers still pay the same final price.

In short, contrary to what has been referred to in some media channels, TAP has not cancelled any direct flights between Funchal and European cities, quite the opposite as it is adding a new destination (Madrid). The final goal continues to be to offer direct flights with no intermediary stopover whenever this is possible and market conditions justify the same.