Hello and welcome to my report of a TAP Portugal flight from Vienna to Lisbon. This is the outbound flight of my two week-long journey to Portugal. About a year ago, a Taxi driver in New York told me he was from Portugal. When I asked him how he flew there to visit his family, he answered that he takes TAP Portugal, as they offer the cheepest flights available to this destination. He also had an explenation for the meaning of TAP's name: Take Another Plane. I hope he was joking, but still wanted to try them out by myself, also because they offered a flight on an A330-200, interestingly my first ever flight on this aircraft type, after flying on so many other wide-body jets.
Itinerary
11.8.2017 / VIE-LIS / TAP Portugal / TP1273 / A330-200 / Economy ~ You are here
26.8.2017 / LIS-VIE / TAP Portugal / TP1274 / A330-200 / Economy ~ Click here
City Airport Train
I took CAT City Airport Train from the city center to Vienna International Airport. The journey takes 16 minutes and costs 11€ for an adult. It is rather expensive, but comes with free city-check-in for some airlines, including TAP Portugal, whereby you can check-in your luggage directly in the city center, without having to wait in the long queues at the Airport.
On board the train.
Vienna International Airport
After 16 minutes we arrived at the airport on time. As I already had my luggage checked-in I went directly to security.
Unfortunately, Austrian Airlines/Star Alliance has now made a part of the check-in area accessible only for business/first/Star Alliance Gold passengers, forcing all other passengers wanting to go directly to security to walk around this area.
Security. As my gate for this flight was F11 I went to the SKY Lounge (Schengen) for F and G Gate passengers. The entry to this lounge is free with some credit cards or available for a fee of 29,90€.
The interior. This time the lounge was quite full and there were a lot of rather noisy children around.
A seperate computer room is available.
A large selection of snacks, cakes, cold meals and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) including various kinds of coffee, tea, softdrinks and beer was available.
Normally there also is one warm meal and a few soups, but these were only available after 17 o'clock.
As I had some time I waited for the warm meal, which was vegetable lentils with dumplings. It was quite good. Before I left the lounge I visited the toilet. Interestingly, a large pillar was in front of the men's toilets. Must be a mistake in building. The toilets, however, are modern and clean.
My flight on the FIDS.
At 17:50 (CEST), scheduled boarding time I left the lounge and walked to gate F11. Boarding had not jet begun but there was already a large queue.
Our aircraft today, an A330-200.
The Flight
Aircraft: A330-200 Age: about 18 years Registration: CS-TOE Airline: TAP Portugal Flight Number: TP1273 Seat: 15J Load: almost 100%
Boarding started at 18:05 (Central European Summer Time (CEST)). It did not really follow groups. I waited until the queue got smaller and then also boarded through the automatic gates.
My seat, 15J.
The seat featured a VERY small entertainment screen with bad resolution. Until the seatbelt-sign was turned off the screen only displayed commercials as well as the safety video.
Remote control for the screen, which did not have a touch screen. On today's flight, the remote control turned out to be useless.
Buttons for recline and to adjust the hardness of the seat cushion, a feature I see for the first time in economy.
Overhead panel.
Outside view.
Movable headrest.
Legroom is very good. The seat also features a footrest.
Cabin view. My overall impression of the cabin was that it appears rather dated, but the seat also has some features you do not see that often in economy.
At 18:30 (CEST), boarding was completed and the retro-style safety video was played.
Taxiing.
Taking off on runway 11/29 at 18:58 (CEST), 38 minutes late.
At 19:22 (CEST), the seatbelt-sign was switched off. A few minutes later, the safety video was accidentally started again. Afterwards, the IFE was switched on but the only available programm throughout the entire flight was the moving map. However, TAP Portugal offers a lot of international E-Papers in different languages to download on it's app prior to departure.
Seat pocket content.
Safety card.
Seat information.
Magazine.
Duty-free information.
Headphones.
At 19:40 (CEST), meal service started. Available was a selection of beverages as well as a snack box. I chose black tea and water. This was served along with a ham and cheese sandwich and a mango or apple juice in a small box. Everything tasted good, though the sandwich tasted of nothing in particular.
After the meal service I went to the front lavatory, which normally is reserved for business class passengers but was opened for economy as well.
At 20:27 (Western European Standard Time (WEST)), we began our descend to Lisbon.
At 20:58 (WEST) we landed, more or less on time.
Disembarking.
Lisbon Airport
We first went through a jetbridge, then walked down stairs and entered a bus. The bus first drove to the terminal, then turned and drove almost back to our aircraft until turning again and driving to the terminal. The walk to the baggage claim was rather long. Our luggage arrived at band 10. Then I had to wait a solid 40 MINUTES for my baggage to arrive.
After collecting my luggage I was picked up from the airport by car.
Bonus
Bonus : Click here displayhide
A few days ago I visited the visitors deck at Vienna International Airport to spot some aircraft. The entrance fee for an adult (>16) is 5€, in my opinion not cheap but affordable.
The terrace is quite big and has a view over both runways. However, it is hardly possible to take fotos of taking-off aircraft, as the runways are rather far away. Also, the wind was quite strong that day which did not improve the image quality, either.
The terrace and the tower at Vienna International Airport.
Turkish Airlines A321-200 (Discover the potential livery)
Kuwait Airways A320-200
Austrian 777-200ER
Pegasus Airlines 737-800
Vueling A321-200
Lufthansa A320-200
Austrian A320-200
KLM 737-700
Swiss A319-100
UTair 737-500
Another Austrian 777-200ER
Ukraine International Airlines ERJ-190LR
Eurowings A320-200 (Borussia Dortmund Livery)
British Airways A320-200
EgyptAir 737-800
Asiana 747-400 Cargo
People's Viennaline ERJ-170
Pegasus A320-200
Aer Lingus A320-200
Aeroflot A320-200
EasyJet A319-100
Qatar Airways 787-8 Dreamliner
Some other aircraft
And, finally, Emirates Airbus A380-800.
Thank you for reading my bonus from Vienna International Airport!
Thank you for reading, do not hesitate to leave a comment!
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Verdict
TAP Air Portugal
7.3/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering8.0
SKY Lounge (Schengen)
7.9/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering7.5
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Services8.5
Vienna - VIE
8.0/10
Efficiency7.5
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.5
Lisbon - LIS
5.6/10
Efficiency3.0
Access7.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness7.5
Conclusion
Vienna Airport: Clean and not too long walkways. Sky Lounge (Schengen): Quite full and food offering was limited, otherwise good and comfortable. TAP Portugal: Cabin: Rather dated and not too clean. Cabin Crew: Did their job, nothing more. Entertainment: TV only displayed flight map, magazine not too interesting. Meal/Catering: Good. Lisbon Airport: Rather long walk, my longest wait for my baggage since years.
3 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Thanks for this FR. Such a treat to get on a widebody for a short flight. Decent catering, however something more substantial would have been nice on a 3,5 hour flight, here you get the same snack as a ORY-LIS which is only 2 hours long.
Hello, KL651! You are right, it is always nice to get on a widebody for short flights, as they feel much more comfortable and spacious. In my opinion the catering was enough, although you are correct that it could have been a bit more for this evening flight. Thank you for your comment and thanks for reading!
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4 Comments
Such a treat to get on a widebody for a short flight.
Decent catering, however something more substantial would have been nice on a 3,5 hour flight, here you get the same snack as a ORY-LIS which is only 2 hours long.
You are right, it is always nice to get on a widebody for short flights, as they feel much more comfortable and spacious. In my opinion the catering was enough, although you are correct that it could have been a bit more for this evening flight.
Thank you for your comment and thanks for reading!
It's so nice to see this aircraft pays tribute to Pedro Álvares Cabral, the man who discovered Brazil.
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