TAP Air Portugal will launch, on September 18, the «Ponte Aérea» (literally air bridge) service in its flights connecting its Lisbon hub to Paris/Orly.
The new product will not bring new frequencies — both airports are slot-constrained — but will, instead, provide more comfort and flexibility to travelers, particularly corporate travelers. The Portuguese flag carrier currently offers eight daily flights between Lisbon and Orly.
According to a press release published by TAP, the «Ponte Aérea» service will allow customers to change their booking to another flight in the same day for free, depending on availability, as well as fast track services in both airport.
The benefits are not available for customers connecting in Lisbon to Orly, nor for groups. This is the fourth route in TAP’s system to count with the «Ponte Aérea» service, the other connecting Lisbon to Porto, Funchal (Madeira) and Madrid.
Paris, considering the three airports served in the French capital (Beauvais, Charles de Gaulle and Orly) is the busiest market, in terms of seats, from Lisbon. In this segment, TAP faces heavy competition, with airlines offering a high number of frequencies.
According to Cirium’s Diio Mi application, Air France offers up to five flights daily from Lisbon to Charles de Gaulle. Transavia offers up to seven to Orly. Other players have lower frequencies, but as low-cost carriers, they may be no less disruptive with their low fare offering. Ryanair flies to Beauvais up to twice a day, easyJet serves Charles de Gaulle up to two times a day and Vueling flies twice a day to Orly (easyJet also has three weekly frequencies to Beauvais).
TAP has its hub in Lisbon, which helps driving passengers elsewhere in Continental Europe, including Paris. However, the perks with «Ponte Aérea» are likely a movement to attract the high-yielding corporate traveler in this competitive market, where other airlines may use high frequency (and/or low fares) as their main weapon.
