TAP Air Portugal Marks Africa and South America Awards with Two New Routes

The Portuguese carrier reports multiple 2026 industry honours as Porto–Sal and São Luís services prepare to launch in late October.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• TAP reports 2026 European airline honours for connections to Africa and South America, as well as website and MICE distinctions.
• Porto–Sal flights are scheduled to start on 25 October 2026, followed by a new São Luís service on 26 October.
• The airline cites 82 weekly African connections and approximately 100 weekly flights serving Brazil.
• TAP says its Africa and South America World Travel Awards totals have reached 11 and 13 wins respectively.

Portugal’s role as an air gateway between Europe, Africa and South America is again in the spotlight as TAP Air Portugal reports a fresh set of travel-industry honours, alongside two additions to its international route network scheduled for late October 2026.

The Lisbon-based carrier says it has been named Europe’s leading airline for services to Africa and South America at the 2026 World Travel Awards. The airline also reports recognition for its website at the World Travel Tech Awards and for its European business-events offering at the World MICE Awards. These accolades are award-programme distinctions rather than independent measures of operational performance.

The timing aligns with a planned direct connection from Porto to Sal in Cape Verde on 25 October and a service to São Luís in Brazil’s Maranhão state on 26 October. For travellers, the routes expand access to destinations outside the most familiar gateways in TAP’s two principal long-haul regions.

New links to Cape Verde and northeastern Brazil

According to the airline’s published network figures, TAP schedules 82 weekly connections from Lisbon and Porto to African destinations in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Morocco, Senegal, Gambia and Ghana. The new Porto–Sal link will give passengers another way to reach the Cape Verde islands without beginning their journey in Lisbon.

In Brazil, TAP reports a network spanning 15 cities and approximately 100 flights each week, with São Luís due to become an additional destination. These services reflect Portugal’s longstanding cultural and commercial links with Portuguese-speaking markets, while offering onward European connections through TAP’s home-country airports. The airline also lists Venezuela among its South American destinations.

Awards across flight connectivity and the digital journey

José Moreira, TAP’s Chief Operating Officer, accepted the trophies on the airline’s behalf. He said the distinctions reflected customers’ and partners’ confidence in TAP and staff efforts across the travel experience, including aircraft maintenance. He also described Africa and South America as important regions for connections between continents and communities.

TAP describes the 2026 Africa award as its eleventh win in that category and the South America honour as its thirteenth, using the award history cited in its announcement. Its additional reported awards recognise its European airline website and services for the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions sector. The travel awards are determined through voting involving industry participants and the public, according to the organisers.

The airline operates more than a thousand flights a week across Europe, Africa and the Americas. For those planning journeys on newly announced routes, the carrier’s official booking and flight-information website provides the latest published schedules and fare availability. Launch dates and flight operations remain subject to normal airline schedule changes.