Strong summer lifts TAP Air Portugal financial performance

TAP Air Portugal generated a record net profit in the first nine months of the year on the back of improved revenues.

The carrier, which has seen potential suitors circling after the Portuguese government last month confirmed plans to sell its 51% stake, achieved a profit of €203.5 million against a loss of €90.8 million in the comparable period last year.

Operating revenues in the nine months surged by almost 30% or €725 million to €3.2 billion year-on year.

Net income for the peak summer quarter of €180.5 million represented an improvement of €69.2 million compared to the same three months of last year and €179.4 million in comparison to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.

Passenger carryings over the summer increased by 5.2% year-on-year, with 5.7% more flights operated as capacity reached 95% of pre-crisis levels.

Chief executive Luís Rodrigues said: “Q3 results are encouraging and validate the organisational focus of delivering a good summer to our passengers. 

“We are moving headway to step up the robustness of our operations and the quality of our passenger service, accelerating the recovery from two difficult previous years.

“The remarkable surge in revenues, backed by resilient operating margins and a strong deleveraging plan in place, underscores our group’s financial strength in the face of critical challenges.

“On this path we rely on the commitment and dedication of all our people, to establish, together, TAP as a reference in the sector.”