TAP Air Portugal is in the process of refreshing their longhaul fleet in two ways:
- The airline has 20 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft on order, the first of which they recently took delivery of; this plane features a new business class
- The airline also has 14 Airbus A321LR aircraft on order, the first of which they’ll take delivery of shortly; this plane will feature fully flat seats in business class
At the moment TAP has a really inconsistent fleet when it comes to their onboard product. Some A330s have angled seats in business class, while others have fully flat seats. However, the A330-900neo will be their first plane with fully flat business class seats that feature aisle access from every seat.
TAP Air Portugal’s new business class seat
TAP has chosen the Recaro CL6710 seat for their business class, which is the same seat that EL AL has on their new 787-9s (though TAP is customizing the seats somewhat).
EL AL’s new business class seat
EL AL’s new business class seat
So I’ve been keeping an eye on which routes will get the new plane, partly because I want to try the new business class, and partly because TAP is the launch customer for the A330-900neo, and I’d like to fly it.
Several weeks ago we learned that TAP Air Portugal’s first US route to get the A330-900neo would be Lisbon to Miami. Specifically, TAP Air Portugal will fly the A330-900neo 5x weekly between Lisbon and Miami as of March 1, 2019.
That flight operates with the following schedule:
TP223 Lisbon to Miami departing 10:35AM arriving 2:55PM
TP224 Miami to Lisbon departing 4:45PM arriving 5:45AM (+1 day)
The route will continue to be served by other versions of the A330s two days per week, but it looks like a majority of the service will be offered with A330-900neos.
On top of that, the airline has also previously announced that they’ll fly the A330-900neo on their new 5x weekly flight between Lisbon and San Francisco, as of June 10, 2019.
Well, we now know when further routes will be flown with the A330-900neo. Per @airlineroute, TAP has now also revealed the dates as of which they’ll operate the A330-900neo on other North American routes. Specifically, TAP Air Portugal will fly the A330-900neo:
- 3x weekly between Lisbon and Toronto as of March 31, 2019
- 2x weekly between Lisbon and New York JFK as of April 13, 2019
- 3x weekly between Lisbon and Newark as of April 30, 2019
- 6x weekly between Lisbon and Boston as of July 7, 2019
It’s important to remember that the A330-900neo service isn’t daily in any of the above markets, so choose your flights wisely.
TAP Air Portugal is known for their exceptional business class fares, especially when originating in Northern Europe. For example, you could book a ticket from Copenhagen to Miami via Lisbon for ~$707 in business class, which is an exceptional deal.
I will say that operationally TAP isn’t the world’s most consistent airline, so the schedule remains subject to change, especially given that we’re talking about a new aircraft type here.
On top of their North American service with the A330-900neo, the airline has also announced service with this plane on the following routes to Brazil:
- Lisbon to Sao Paulo since December 15, 2018
- Lisbon to Salvador da Bahia as of February 2, 2019
- Lisbon to Brasilia as of February 16, 2019
- Lisbon to Belo Horizonte as of February 17, 2019
- Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro as of March 3, 2019
Anyone plan on flying TAP’s new A330-900neo?
I just booked a first class flight from Lisbom to Boston but seems the plane is the A321 and not the new A330. Anyone now why this is?
i have booked ORD - LIS for next summer on biz class for a family of four. i was aiming to get the ODD rows to have 2 sets of honeymoon seats. They put me in middle of row 2 and row 3 and told me that one of the rows swivels so that we can all talk and be in a half moon. I was not able to confirm this when i looked it...
i have booked ORD - LIS for next summer on biz class for a family of four. i was aiming to get the ODD rows to have 2 sets of honeymoon seats. They put me in middle of row 2 and row 3 and told me that one of the rows swivels so that we can all talk and be in a half moon. I was not able to confirm this when i looked it up on various sites and am tempted to go back to the 2 odd rows with honeymoon seats?
- Do they have seats that swivel to face another row? (never heard of this)
- what is best choice for seats if traveling with four?
any help is appreciated
Just booked a Milano MXP - Chicago ORD (via LIS) on A339neo on 8th-13th Apr 2020. Hope will be true..and I will pray about this.
I have the same question. Why my reservation from MIA to LIS shows 339 as an equipment? What plane is it?
So anyone know if you're booking TAP through United's website where they list the equipment as a 339 - is that the new A300 NEO? It's flight TP218. Flying Oct 1.
booked to fly TAP business class on 9/10 SFO to MUC with a 5 day layover in Lisbon. Looking forward to experiencing the new business class on A330-900neo. Was at SFO int'l last Friday, and they don't have the TAP signage at the departure up yet (makes sense since SFO-LIS service won't start until June 10th).
Is there any seat map available for the new A339 to view?
Why not from Orlando to Lisbon ?
Those business seats (pictured) don't look remotely lie-flat! Am I right, or a photography snafu?
@Rui N: I searched/booked via Aeroplan. I've found UA's site to be less and less accurate for *A searches. Unsure if that's just a glitch or if United is actively-but-passively trying to dissuade folks from using other, better, cheaper award currencies/airlines. I'd normally quote Hanlon's razor, but this is UA we're talking about...
Just checked my flight on 6/16 is already showing as 330NEO
Note that those "very cheap" business class fares ex-Europe mostly involve an overnight stay at LIS, along with (presumably) leaving the airport, staying in a hotel and then returning the next morning.
For some, that extra hassle out-weighs the cheap fare, since it means the total travel time approaches 24 hours, at least to SFO.
That said I am booked on the first flight, out of Dublin which has similar fares to CPN.
@Jason Z
Those planes were already returned to Azul. Not on TAP's fleet anymore.
Is anyone having trouble seeing TAP award space on United website? Searched a couple of routes and can't find a single seat; find it odd that over several months there are none.
Booked flight back from Paris Air Show to SFO vis LIS.
I thought the ex-Azul A330s were their first planes with fully flat business class seats with direct aisle access?
Booked award tickets (via aeroplan) for SFO-LIS-SFO in August for the whole family. Taxes are close to nothing so great deal!
Flying LIS-SFO in J in late August. Fingers crossed there’s no equipment swap. As of now, seats selected via TAP’s website show the new configuration. Here’s hoping it holds.
My LIS-MIA leg changed from an A340 to the A339!!!
Huge Portuguese community in Newark. Can't wait to fly this. I might actually pay for my dad to fly it in business class. He's too damn cheap to pay for it himself.
@ turgutbey
June 10
You missed outlining the SFO route
@turgutbey They are selling seats on that flight for next summer.
I wish we had a direct flight from Orlando to Lisbon Portugal!!!
A casual search shows TAP doing LIS-JFK (TP209) in early November 2019. No aircraft type shown, but I would assume new A339.
Do they specify which 5 days of the week they will fly the A330-900neos ?
@Cedric I'd have to imagine you can.
Any update on when the LIS-SFO flight is going to launch?
"The route will continue to be served by other versions of the A330s two days per week, but it looks like a majority of the service will be offered with A330-900neos."
My LIS-MIA flight on April 3rd shows an A340, so I guess you can add that to the other versions of A330.
can you pop out the screen so it's not at such an angle?
I believe you mean they will start flying to Miami as of 01MAR2019 instead of 2018.