TAP’s executive president, Christine Ourmières-Widener, warned this Wednesday that “mounting inflation,” “rising fuel prices” and uncertainties about demand are “current and future concerns” for the company.
“Ongoing inflation, rising fuel prices and uncertainties about demand next year are current and future concerns,” said the president of the national airline’s executive committee in Ponte de Sor (Portalegre).
At the 6th edition of the aviation Portugal Air Summit, which started this Wednesday at the municipal airport of Ponte de Sor, Christine Ourmières-Widener delivered a speech on the theme “TAP Air Portugal – The Efficiency Path for the Future”.
In her speech, the TAP official also said she was already preparing for the summer of 2023, recalling that the company is limited to a fleet of 99 aircraft until 2025 and that it will have to give up some of its slots.
“But despite this, we manage to increase our capacity next summer, which is very positive,” he emphasized.
With the restrictions on slots at Lisbon airport, “increasing our fleet to fly larger aircraft is the most efficient way to meet expected demand,” Christine Ourmières-Widener defended.
“TAP is focused on increasing fleet reliability so that we can avoid operations being penalized by aircraft unavailability and unnecessary technical difficulties.”
According to TAP’s executive president, “the return of the majority of ATR, smaller-capacity aircraft” will allow the company “to operate with a stable fleet of 19 E-Jets and the number of Airbus aircraft it currently has.” operates with four to expand”.
In her speech, Christine Ourmières-Widener also said that “TAP has not been a profitable company for many years” and that “in fact it never has been, despite positive results in 2017 and, in 2019, expanding”.
“The pandemic has almost completely shut down the company, further exacerbating the company’s difficulties, but everyone recognizes that TAP is a strategic company for Portugal and it is precisely for this reason that the Portuguese state has decided to intervene to save it,” hinted. he. .
The executive president acknowledged that this move “certainly came at a high cost to taxpayers, but with the assurance that every effort will be made to make the national airline a sustainable business in the long run.”
Since he “landed” at TAP, because of the “very difficult” situation he encountered, “not only economically and financially, but also in the human place”, it is “painful for everyone” [e] remains”, but today there is “an opportunity to create a better, stronger TAP”.
“It is, in fact, the last chance. After the state capital injection this year, TAP will not be able to receive support for 10 years. Because it has not received it for more than 20 years. We cannot fail,” he assumed. .
Source: DN
