Airline: TAP Air Portugal
Flight #: TP1351
Route: LHR-LIS
Class: Economy
Seat: 6F
Date: Monday 5th February 2024
Founded in March 1945 as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, TAP Air Portugal (TAP) is the national airline of Portugal and connects the Iberian nation with 90 destinations in 34 countries. One of those destinations is London Heathrow and back at the start of February we were at the London airport around 0600 ready to catch TAP’s first flight of the day to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
We arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 around two hours before the flight and were able to quickly check-in using the self-service kiosks. Security was unproblematic and we were through in departures around 15 minutes after getting off the bus at Heathrow Central Bus Station, leaving plenty of time for some breakfast at the Fuller’s pub within the terminal. Once we’d eaten, we were able to head straight to the gate as this information was provided when we checked in, possible owing to the aircraft night stopping at Heathrow.
Gate A16 is part of the main building of Terminal 2, and we were just about able to see our aircraft waiting at the gate, CS-TRJ, TAP’s retro liveried A321neo. Unfortunately the angle at the gate meant I couldn’t get a decent photo of this great colour scheme, although I was able to see it fully on arrival at Lisbon. Pre-boarding started around 0725, with the queue starting to move a few minutes later and we were soon on the aircraft, settling down in our seats in row 6, the first row of Economy.
As with most modern aircraft, TAP have streamlined seats onboard their new A321neos, however unlike some of their European competitors have also had USB and universal power sockets installed at all seats. There’s also a built-in device holder, allowing you to prop your tablet or phone up during the flight without the risk of it falling off the tray table and under the seats. As with most European airlines, TAP’s Business Class on these aircraft is the same seats as Economy with the middle seat blocked out and a moveable curtain so the size of the premium cabin can be changed dependant on demand.
Boarding was complete with the doors closed at 0758 and whilst our row was full, the flight was only about half full and there was an empty row behind us which our seatmate in the aisle decided to move to giving us all a bit more space. With just Beth and I left in our row, a member of the cabin crew did something to the arm rests to allow them to be secured in the up position during take-off which I’d never seen before.
As we taxied out to Heathrow’s runway 27R, we passed a line of United Airlines Boeing 767s and 777s at Terminal 2B, the satellite building of the main terminal. There wasn’t too much of a queue to take off and we followed British Airways’ G-EUUO which was operating BA996 to Cologne. I was also able to see British Airways’ headquarters as we departed, before we entered the relatively low bank of cloud which obscured most of the rest of the departure. One exception was Windsor Castle which I was just able to glimpse through a gap in the cloud as we continued to climb.
Around 20 minutes after take-off, somewhere over the English Channel, the Captain made an announcement updating us on the flight, advising that had reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. With a solid bank of cloud out the window, I settled down to watch Simon Clark’s 6000km by Train documentary on Nebula along with some of Jack Whitehall’s ‘Travels with My Father’. At some point relatively early on in the flight the onboard service started and we both went for the breakfast meal deal of a hot drink and a pre-packaged waffle, which were perfectly fine for aircraft food.
Just over 10 minutes later we crossed the Spanish coast to the west of the town of Gijón, however view of the coastline was still blocked by cloud. This finally cleared just after, providing great views of the mountains in northern Spain before we crossed the Spanish/Portuguese border after an hour and 45 minutes of flying, near the towns of Chaves (Portugal) and Verín (Spain). Our decent began as we headed down the centre of Portugal, with the city of Figueira da Foz visible on the headland out to our right and I was soon able to see the patchwork of green fields, trees, villages and towns.
As we passed through 10,000 feet I was able to see the colourful hilltop observatory at Sintra and then the town of Cascais at the western end of the Lisbon conurbation. A wide turn over the estuary of the River Tagus took us over Cacilhas and Almada on the southern bank to line us up with Lisbon’s runway 03. As we flew back over the River, I was able to get a great view of Santuário de Cristo Rei, a giant statue of Jesus inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer.
We touched down at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport at 1049, two hours and 25 minutes after taking off from Heathrow. A short taxi later, we parked on a remote stand and were soon on a bus to the terminal. Whilst the huge size of Lisbon’s terminal didn’t surprise me, the emptiness of it did, and we’d have been through to arrivals in only a few minutes if the passport e-gates hadn’t have crashed with me in them…
I’ve got to say I was impressed with TAP and even though the flight was one of the longest I’ve taken recently, I was comfortable and generally enjoyed it. The interior of their A321neo is smart and the provision of power sockets is a great addition. Of course, getting to fly on TAP’s ‘retro jet’ was a bonus, but I really did enjoy the flight and would certainly fly with TAP again in future.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 3*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 17/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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