Review of TAP Air Portugal flight Madrid Lisbon in Business

Airline TAP Air Portugal
Flight TP1019
Class Business
Seat --
Aircraft Airbus A320
Flight time 01:20
Take-off 19 Aug 19, 12:20
Arrival at 19 Aug 19, 12:40
TP   #70 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 317 reviews
Chibcha
By SILVER 843
Published on 13th June 2022

Introduction


Hola amigos!

This FR covers a trip to Paris via Lisbon. 

It was summer 2019 and I was stuck in Madrid. I didn't have much money and I didn't plan with enough time for my vacations so there wasn't much option. Luckily a friend offered me to stay at her place and I had a fair amount of Lifemiles, that were just enough for a reasonably priced ticket to Paris via Lisbon. The fun part: it would be in business… (eurobusiness, though…but still)

I had never flown with TAP, and I love their branding, so I was quite eager to check how they did.  


At Madrid barajas airport


I easily made it to MAD on the Metro…I had arrived with a lot of time before my flight, but I had no problem checking in. 
 


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I love these retro boards…not as cool as the ones at FRA, but still…


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So…20 minutes after arriving, checking in, passing through security I was at the Puerta de Alcalá VIP Lounge.

The lounge seemed to be quite battered and dated compared to the lounges at T4, T4S and T3. But it still provided amazing views of the tarmac and operations at MAD in this summer morning. 



While the offering was varied and generous…I settled with this for the moment. Check the ripped sofa (big big nono)


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I had my breakfast as the earlier flight to Lisbon departed


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This was the spotting highlight of the day…I remember thinking to myself, one day I'll score one of these flights ( LOL)


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Or maybe one of these to a sandy beach in the Caribbean ?


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Then my plane made it from Lisbon


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Some minutes later I went down to the gate, were a mess had formed… eventhough I had priority boarding, there wasn't any clear signaling nor any willingness from the ground crew to let me in as it's supposed to be when flying in biz.


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After some shameless line cutting, I made it in.


Boarding TAP's a320


I forgot to take a picture of the plane while boarding, but I did take this artistic pic:


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Once I made it to my seat it hit me…this is eurobiz, so not what you'd expect (back then) across the Pond. But it was more than enough for this 1 hour flight.



While boarding was completed, I enjoyed the view to other european carrier's operating in MAD.


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Boarding completed and now we taxied to RWY 36L.


Taxi and Takeoff



En route to Lisbon


After we took off, it is a fairly straight forward deal to Lisbon. 



We were then given these packaged oshibori


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The seats were equipped to hold our devices and charge them…but I didn't bother with it


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We were then offered our meal…that I washed down with a glass of white wine.


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This was way more than enough for our short flight. Lovely


Salud!


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Lisbon then came into view…


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The southern bank of the Tagus and Montijo AFB and the Vasco da Gama bridge 


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The views of the city are unbeatable



We then went into the Atlantic Ocean and ligned up with RWY03, which would bring us right over Lisbon.



We gently made it to our runway (ending the fun)….I had never flown to Lisbon and the sheer amount of big planes in hard stands was what caught my attention the most


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We made it to a hardstand too…


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And had to bus to the terminal…


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Upon arrival…just a mess.
Nobody to direct us nowhere and I just made my way trying to follow the not to clear signage. 


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Stay tuned to Part 2 of this FR, thanks for reading!

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Verdict

TAP Air Portugal

8.1/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering10.0

Independant Sala VIP Puerta de Alcala

8.5/10
Comfort6.5
Meal/catering10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Services7.5

Madrid - MAD

9.4/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Lisbon - LIS

6.8/10
Efficiency3.5
Access5.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

TP met the expectations. They would have to be really bad to do it wrongly in this short flight, and they managed not to. I guess that if the views were the flight's highlight it speaks of how okay the service was.

MAD was great, as usual, although being able to spend most of my time at the lounge turns me a bit biased. I have come to realise that the experience may not be as fun if I had to weather the dull terminal without that perk. The AENA Lounge was too battered and it felt crowded...but it was, as told, a big perk compared to what MAD offers if you don't go to the lounge, so I won't take it for granted.

LIS...meh.

Information on the route Madrid (MAD) Lisbon (LIS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 19 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Madrid (MAD) → Lisbon (LIS).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est TAP Air Portugal avec 7.2/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 31 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 605642 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6731 Comments
    Hola Chibcha!

    Pretty decent Eurobiz experience for a 1h flight. I'll be visiting Lisbon for the first time in a few weeks and I can't wait! Though I won't be taking TAP.

    I really like that the new TAP cabins, have tablet holders and power outlets + USB ports, at least in the forward sections since I know they have different seats in the back. It's a shame though to have a tablet holder but no streaming entertainment offered to play on said tablet in flight. I assume it'll happen at some point since more and more carriers seem to be going that direction. At least once European carriers have mostly recovered from pandemic financial difficulties.

    I've always heard LIS is a mess and your report seems to confirm that. I guess I'll see for myself soon!

    Thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 605723 by
    lysflyer 1266 Comments
    Thanks for the report!
    TP offers a fairly decent product on their short haul flights. Nice views during the approach!
    Regards
    LYSflyer

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