TAP Portugal

TAP Portugal is the flag carrier airline of Portugal headquartered at Lisbon Portela Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP is a member of the Star Alliance and operates almost 2,000 flights a week to 88 destinations in 38 countries worldwide. The airline is majority-owned by Atlantic Gateway Consortium, led by David Neeleman, owner of Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, and Humberto Pedrosa. Atlantic Gateway Consortium purchased 61 percent of the carrier from the government of Portugal on 24 June 2015, with an option to buy the Portuguese government's remaining 34 percent stake in 2018 (the remaining stake is held by TAP employees).

History

Early postwar operations

The airline was as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, SGPS, S.A. (Portuguese Air Transportations) founded on 14 March 1945 and began commercial services on 19 September 1946, from Lisbon to Madrid with a Douglas DC-3 under the name Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP). On 31 December, TAP began its Linha Aérea Imperial, a twelve-stop colonial service including Luanda, Angola and Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Mozambique.

Portugal

Portugal (Portuguese: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 km (754 mi) long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union. The republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments.

The land within the borders of current Portugal has been continuously settled and fought over since prehistoric times. The Celts and the Romans were followed by the Visigothic and the Suebi Germanic peoples, who were themselves later invaded by the Moors. These Muslim peoples were eventually expelled during the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. By 1139, Portugal had established itself as a kingdom independent from León. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded Western influence and established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers.

Portugal (disambiguation)

Portugal is a country in southwestern Europe.

Portugal may also refer to:

Similar spellings

See also

Portugal (surname)

Portugal is a surname derived from the country of the same name. People with the name include:

See also