TAP Portugal (Lisbon) has begun scheduled E190 operations following the completion of the type's maiden commercial flights from Lisbon to Nice, Barcelona El Prat, and Toulouse Blagnac on Monday, May 23.
The Portuguese carrier will induct a total of nine of the Embraer Regional Jets into its TAP Express fleet, which operates on the AOC of its PGA Portugalia Airlines (Lisbon) unit. Sourced from Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, São Paulo Viracopos), the EMB-190s will replace Portugalia's outgoing fleet of Fokker 100s while its E145 fleet will be replaced with eight ATR72-600s (operated by White (WI, Lisbon)).
The fleet renewal effort is part of the carrier's revamping which has also seen its shareholding revised. Reports out of Lisbon indicate China's HNA Group will acquire an initial 7% stake in TAP's 45% shareholder, Atlantic Gateway, with the option of increasing that stake to 20%.
