Portuguese airline TAP to launch Dublin-Lisbon service

DUBLIN, Ireland - With about 276,000 passengers taking flights between Dublin and Lisbon over the last 12 months, now, the Portuguese airline TAP has decided to use the strong market to boost its own connectivity.

On Tuesday, TAP announced that it plans to launch a new double daily service between Dublin and Lisbon.

The new route, which the airline said would be introduced next summer, will offer TAP customers convenient onward connectivity to South America and other locations via TAP’s global network.

The Portuguese airline further added that the new route will bring additional choice for passengers travelling between Dublin and Lisbon.

In the company's official statement, TAP chief executive, Antonoaldo Neves, said that the new Dublin service was part of an expansion programme that the airline has been going through in recent years.

Commenting on the move, Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said in a statement, "We’re delighted to welcome TAP back to Dublin Airport after an absence of more than a decade. We look forward to working closely with TAP to promote this new service."

TAP's renewed interest in the route comes as figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have revealed that ten million passengers passed through the five main airports in the second quarter of the year.

This, the CSO noted was an increase of 7.2 percent over the same period last year.

Further, CSO figures showed that passenger numbers increased in all five main airports - with the Dublin airport accounting for 85.3 percent of all air passengers in the second quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, Lisbon - which boasts of a historic city centre and an exciting nightlife, along with 290 days of sunshine per year - is one of Europe’s most popular city break destinations.