TAP wants to triple flights to the USA – Observer

The shareholder of TAP David Neeleman said Thursday that it is the goal of the airline to have 70 weekly flights to the U.S. in the next three years, which means more than triple the current 23 calls per week.

"the islands of The Azores have and will have a lot of interest to the people of the United States of America (USA)," he told the journalists David Neeleman, who is for the first time in Ponta Delgada, to participate in the 28.Congress of the Association of Hoteliers of Portugal (AHP).

"In the U.S. no one knows Portugal. It is very hard to find there someone who knows Portugal (…)", added the responsible, who has the nationality of the north-american and brazilian, showing, therefore, that "the Azores have a lot of space to grow in that continent.

According to the shareholder of TAP, in the past year, the company had eight flights per week to the USA and now has 23. "This number I want to increase up to 70 per week over the next three years," he said.

"I Want a shared strategy between the Jet Blue [who have their flights in JFK in Boston] and the TAP. The goal is to have a strong offer for the american market mostly in the winter [February-April]. TAP need and Portugal," he explained, adding that "what is missing in Portugal is access to markets".

David Neeleman recalled, during his intervention in the congress, that what drove the TAP in the last few years has been the brazilian market.

"Now we have Brazil and we have the USA. Portugal is far away from the centre of Europe, is far from everything, with the exception of a few Spanish cities. But it is the european country closer to the U.S., after Dublin," he said.