Portugália
Encyclopedia
Portugália is a regional airline
with its head office in Lisbon
, Portugal
, and a subsidiary of TAP Portugal
. When it was an independent company its head office was in Building 70 on the grounds of Portela Airport
in Lisbon. It operates scheduled international and domestic services from Lisbon and Porto
, as well as European charter services, since 2007 exclusively under TAP flight codes. Its main base is Portela Airport
, Lisbon, but it has a secondary hub at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
, Porto.
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. On 6 November 2006, TAP and Portugalia's owners Grupo Espirito Santo, announced TAP's acquisition of 99.81% of Portugalia shares, subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. It has 750 employees (at March 2007). Portugalia was to join the SkyTeam
Alliance in 2008, but since it was bought by Star Alliance
member TAP Portugal
, its not known if it will join Star Alliance
as a regional member.
A subsidiary of Portugalia, PGA Express
, operates services from Lisbon to A Coruña
, Bilbao
, Málaga
and Valencia.
For several years, Portugália was granted with the "Best Regional Airline in Europe" stamp and in 2005 was granted in second place in the category "Best Airline of Europe" by Skytrack.
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
with its head office in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and a subsidiary of TAP Portugal
TAP Portugal
TAP Portugal, commonly known as TAP, is the national airline of Portugal. It has its head office in Building 25 on the grounds of Portela Airport in Lisbon, and has been a member of the Star Alliance since 14 March 2005, the same day on which the company celebrated its 60th anniversary...
. When it was an independent company its head office was in Building 70 on the grounds of Portela Airport
Portela Airport
Lisbon Portela Airport, also known as Lisbon Airport , is an international airport located north of Castle of São Jorge in the city of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal...
in Lisbon. It operates scheduled international and domestic services from Lisbon and Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, as well as European charter services, since 2007 exclusively under TAP flight codes. Its main base is Portela Airport
Portela Airport
Lisbon Portela Airport, also known as Lisbon Airport , is an international airport located north of Castle of São Jorge in the city of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal...
, Lisbon, but it has a secondary hub at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport is an international airport near Porto, Portugal. It is located approximately six miles northwest of Porto city centre, in the municipalities of Maia, Matosinhos and Vila do Conde and is run by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal...
, Porto.
History
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 FaroFaro, Portugal
Faro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...
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. On 6 November 2006, TAP and Portugalia's owners Grupo Espirito Santo, announced TAP's acquisition of 99.81% of Portugalia shares, subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. It has 750 employees (at March 2007). Portugalia was to join the SkyTeam
SkyTeam
SkyTeam, branded as SKYTEAM, is an airline alliance with its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands...
Alliance in 2008, but since it was bought by Star Alliance
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . The alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines...
member TAP Portugal
TAP Portugal
TAP Portugal, commonly known as TAP, is the national airline of Portugal. It has its head office in Building 25 on the grounds of Portela Airport in Lisbon, and has been a member of the Star Alliance since 14 March 2005, the same day on which the company celebrated its 60th anniversary...
, its not known if it will join Star Alliance
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . The alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines...
as a regional member.
A subsidiary of Portugalia, PGA Express
PGA Express
PGA Express is an airline based in Cascais, Portugal. It is a subsidiary of Portugália and operates services to Spain in a franchise agreement with Portugália...
, operates services from Lisbon to A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
and Valencia.
For several years, Portugália was granted with the "Best Regional Airline in Europe" stamp and in 2005 was granted in second place in the category "Best Airline of Europe" by Skytrack.
Fleet
The Portugalia fleet includes the following aircraft (as of December 2010) :| Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Routes | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | ||||
| Embraer ERJ 145 EP | 8 | 6 | 39 | 45 | Domestic and European | |
| Fokker 100 | 6 | 8 | 87 | 95 | Domestic and European | |
| Beechcraft 1900D | 2 | 0 | 19 | 19 | Spain destinations | PGA Express PGA Express PGA Express is an airline based in Cascais, Portugal. It is a subsidiary of Portugália and operates services to Spain in a franchise agreement with Portugália... |
| Total Number of Aircraft | 16 | |||||
Incidents
On 11 August 2001 the left main landing gear of a Portugalia Fokker 100 aircraft collapsed during taxi at Lisbon Airport. No-one was injured.External links
- TAP Portugal
- Portugália (Archive)