TAP mastermind David Neeleman said that from March the airline will schedule 18 flights a day from Oporto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, double the frequency from before he and Humberto Pedrosa gained control of the State owned company.
Neeleman claimed that "Oporto is a very important city for TAP," despite fierce local criticism that TAP has cancelled routes to and from the city.
"It is very important. The percentage of our revenue coming from Oporto is very important. It's so important that we decided to increase the flights per day to 18.”
The loss making airline is suspending, as of March 27, its flights from Oporto to Barcelona, Brussels, Rome and Milan, claiming that these are unprofitable routes.
In a swipe at the per head contribution that low-cost carriers receive from Portugal tourist board, Neeleman commented that "In Oporto we have a competitor who is receiving an airport grant that we're not getting. It has much lower costs than we have. We can not run a company in competition."
The Mayor of Oporto, Rui Moreira, has argued that the government should force TAP to "retreat from this position" in relation to the cancelled flights but already has approached a willing Ryanair which intends to replace the flights on routes cancelled by TAP.
Neeleman insists that he will not yield to pressures that do not represent the interests of the company, “We will do what is best for TAP to strengthen TAP."
Neeleman was in the US to launch daily Lisbon flights to New York and to Boston, which will start operating on June 11th (Boston) and July 1st (New York).
"This is a great day for TAP, a great day for Portugal, for its economy. It is a great day for all of us," said Neeleman, at JFK airport.
These new routes join up with Miami and Newark, which will have daily flights to Lisbon early this summer, added to the twice a week flight between Oporto and Newark.
TAP thus is increasing is flight availability to the US to 30 weekly flights.
Asked about the latest setback for TAP with the National Civil Aviation Authority refusing to approve the original TAP deal with Gateway, Neeleman said that this will be resolved, "without a doubt"
The Gateway minority shareholder said that the position of the Authority, that Neeleman in fact wears the trousers at Gateway and that Pedrosa is a stooge with a Portuguese passport, will be resolved quickly.
"There's some information that it requested last week and that we will deliver this week. When it arrives there will be no doubt about who is controlling this company," said Neeleman.
On Friday, the National Civil Aviation Authority said the TAP deal went against Euiropean rules that the airline should be controlled by majority European owners and that management decisions of any importance therefore are frozen for the time being.
TAP’s unimpressive Chief Executive, Fernando Pinto, spent part of Monday in meetings with the Authority at its request.
"They wanted clarification on who is making the decisions in the company, whether Europeans are controlling the company. The truth is that we do not take any decisions without the consent of our Portuguese partners. A decision is only made in accordance and with our directors, who are European," said the American, born in Brazil.
"Nine of the eleven board members are European, two of the three executives are European and the president also has a Portuguese passport," despite hailing from Brazil.
Asked whether the National Civil Aviation Authority’s decision will affect the refinancing bond of €120 million that TAP is arranging, Neeleman said he was not concerned.
"TAP needs investment. We need more investment than has already been put in, €180 million, and then we will add more money. I have no doubt that this will be solved and that the money will come," said the Gateway shareholder.
Another new route was announced in Lisbon today with TAP putting on two daily flights to Casablanca and Marrakech from July 1st.
The route to Marrakech also is strengthened with a now daily flight to and from Lisbon.
TAP made a loss of more than €120 million in 2015.
