TAP Portugal

Flew Business Class from Lisbon to Newark. A330-200 went Technical at gate. TAP Ground staff was able to switch to a back-up aircraft within one hour including unloading all cargo luggage catering and refuel the substitute equipment. Substitute Aircraft was also a new A330-200 with Star Alliance colour scheme. Very clean inside crew friendly and professional. Food was fantastic for Airline meal. Only problem was entertainment system which could have had a few more choices of Music and Movies and the seats that turned into a lie-flat bed where not the most comfortable but adequate for a 7.5 hrs flight. All in all it was one of the best transatlantic flight I have taken. Considering the original aircraft going technical before takeoff and getting into Newark with only 60 minutes delay that was excellent.

Flew Business Class GTW-FUN-GTW. Broken seat that wouldn't stay in the upright position and no more space than economy. Outward leg was on time and actually arrived early crew were ok but nothing to write home about and the "food" (cheese and ham sandwich) was edible but not what you would expect. The return was an unmitigated disaster. Flight eventually boarded over 1 hour late and we sat on the Tarmac for a further 2 hours. Crew huddled behind the curtain they eventually offered one small glass of water promptly got a paper (none offered to passengers) then settled down to more laughing and messing about. Throughout the return flight the crew treated the passengers as nothing more than an inconvenience. The language skills of the chief steward were non existent so much so that his female colleagues had to step in and make the English announcements.

Flew Dakar-Lisbon-Frankfurt on Monday. Take-off in Dakar was 3hrs late because they had to first check in customers from the flight that was cancelled the day before. In the end I was lucky to complete 6.30hr flight within 22 hours of the clock - other people spent 48 hours on planes and airports.

Stuttgart-Frankfurt-Lisbon. Flight from Frankfurt to Lisbon was cancelled next flight delayed for a couple of hours due to technical issues - and made an additional stop at Dusseldorf a city in the opposite direction to Lisbon. We arrived delayed for more than 6 hours. Tried to complain at customer relations however I have never heard anything from them. I will avoid flying this airline again.

Flew TP0614 from LIS to BRU in Business on 30 Aug. Never again! You pay Business but TAP puts the overbooked economy passengers into Business with the consequence that you do not have free space between the seats. No possibility to work. Meal consists of sandwich with cheese and ham. There is no reason to fly TAP in business.

Manchester - Lisbon. Airbus A319. 90 minutes late due to late arrival of incoming plane but kept informed and turn around was quick. Sat in row 8 in the seats that convert to business class. Excellent leg room and comfortable leather seats. Drinks trolley with complimentary wine and soft drinks plus a nice sandwich. Overheard screens played a selection of videos and plane tracking. Annoyingly the seat belt signs remained on throughout the flight even though we were flying in calm air - maybe captain forgot to turn them off but some people did get up to visit the toilet. Efficient bus to the terminal direct to immigration so no long walks. Baggage delivered reasonably promptly. A much better experience than the low cost and charter carriers.

Lisbon - Manchester. Fokker F100. This route is shared between TAP and Portugalia dependant on which day you fly. My outward flight was with TAP. The plane whilst old was comfortable with leather seats and good leg room. Overhead bins smaller than the normal so some people had difficulty fitting in their so called hand luggage! 20 mins late departure due to late arrivals. Bussed out to the plane. Quick and efficient cabin service - complimentary wine and soft and hot drinks. A small but tasty hot meal (unusual these days on short European flights) followed by another drinks run. Cabin crew very friendly. Noticeable quiet cabin due to engines at the rear. Overall and excellent airline and better than the mainline TAP Portugal outward journey.

TAP662 Lisbon to Amsterdam Airbus A320. The aircraft was in good condition clean with comfortable seats not much leg room (presume average for the industry). Flight departed on time and arrived on time. Meal was provided during the flight; no choice offered. Quality was pretty average. No personalized in flight entertainment. They had overhead screen with a programme playing but no head set offered to passengers. Cabin crew friendly enough but service levels considered only fair.

LIS-LHR-LIS in economy. Tickets were cheaper than low-cost alternative. Boarding and deboarding in LIS was by bus which a disadvantage. First flight had a delay of 30 mins and the return flight a delay of 1 hour. On both flight's crew acknowledged explained and apologised for the delay. In-flight entertainment is almost non-existent (which is equivalent to most other European short-haul airline operations). However on the return flight the screens showed the map/distance/time to destination which I think is quite good to have. For both flight's the crew was moderately attentive and caring. The best thing is the catering. No other airline (that I know of) is offering this level of food and drink in European short to medium haul flight's. Where else can you get a big full glass of good red or white wine for free in economy?

Lisbon - Zagreb Aug 26th. It was supposed to be a direct flight but at check-in we found out that it was re- routed via Prague with the expected delay of 2 hours to our destination. The fact is that both direct flights were cancelled and replaced with Lisbon-Prague-Zagreb-Lisbon flight. Departure from Lisbon an hour late. Next we were waiting for almost hour and a half at Prague and even after all the passengers from Prague boarded they explained to us that we are still waiting for the luggage of 4 passengers who came on-board late. Finally we reached the destination 3 hours later than scheduled. The snack was poor and despite the duration of the flight was exactly doubled we didn't get any extra service. Nobody really apologized for the situation like that's a normal thing. However I find such policy very inappropriate. After all there were more than enough passengers flying both to Prague and Zagreb no need to merge flights. And not to mention passengers in transit who missed their subsequent connections or trains busses. Finally we decided never to fly with TAP again.