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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 2027.PDF
FLIGHT International, 12 December 1974 837 m, CM TAP—Portugal's changing airline Reports by JORGE DE LEMOS PEIXOTO in Lisbon and ANDY HOFTON in London I T is not very usual for a European airline to be forced to adjust its outlook as a result of a military coup, although less radical changes in Government in many European countries have often resulted in abrupt changes in air-transport policy. Transportes Aereos Portugueses reacted to the April revolution by as far as possible carry ing on as if nothing had happened. It went ahead with plans to celebrate 25 years of services to the United Kingdom and launched, in cooperation with the Portuguese Tourist Office, the "feel free" campaign to reassure British tourists. Services to the African colonies Angola, Mozam bique and Guinea-Bissau, which were quickly promised independence, were maintained. Like any change of Government, however, the bloodless coup inevitably brought changes in emphasis; TAP is in any case an important part of the Portuguese economy. The new board of directors, three elected by the employees and four appointed by the Junta de Salvacao Nacional, took over at the beginning of May. In September a 707 was grounded in Lourengo Marques as a direct result of the coup and a dispute over traffic rights and maintenance staff at Lisbon went on strike. (The latter dispute was Top, the TAP fleet includes three 747-200&S with one on order. Below, operations began in late 1946 with less than half a dozen war surplus DC-3s settled when all TAP workers were mobilised under military jurisdiction and told that they faced court-martial if they did not return to work.) As soon as it became clear that the new Government was going to move rapidly towards granting independence to the African colonies, which traditionally generate 50 per cent of the airline's revenue, there was a marked shift in traffic. Flights to Europe became overbooked while traffic on outbound flights from Portugal slumped. The airline also faced a fall in European tourist traffic, a reduction which might have been worse if some tourists had not switched their holidays from Turkey, Greece and Cyprus to Portugal because of hostilities in the Eastern Mediterranean. The future of the important African routes looked uncertain as a result of the planned military withdrawal and promises of independence suggested that new national airlines would emerge to compete for the remaining traffic. After only two> months in office the board of directors resigned and a new management team took over. It would be quite wrong to assume, however, that the long-term outlook for TAP is bleak. The change in Govern ment will probably be of direct benefit if only because it has released the airline from a political straitjacket which put a tight restriction on operations. The new board, which includes the former general manager for the UK, is: composed of airline experts drawn from all branches of TAP rather than of political appointees. The airline is already free to overfly countries in Africa which were previously less than friendly to Portuguese aircraft and this promises a potential annual fuel saving of £2 million by making possible flights across the "bulge" of Africa. The long-standing dispute between India and Portugal has been resolved following Lisbon's recognition of Indian sovereignty over Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. TAP will probably be encouraged to open up new services to Eastern Europe, possibly including Moscow, and the Arab states. Mr Mario Felix, general manager for the United Kingdom, told Flight that he expects services to Venezuela and Casablanca to begin in 1975. Rome is a notable gap in the airline's European network. It sees Cape Verde, Sao Tome and the Azores as possible tourist developments and believes that if more inclusive- tour fares were offered on the South Atlantic, Lisbon could become the European gateway for these services. The
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