TAP Portugal / Star Alliance

[P44]

Conforme a adesão para breve da TAP á STAR ALLIANCE, o novo site da Companhia Aérea Nacional Portuguesa já está operacional:

http://www.flytap.com



(A foto do avião já apresenta o simbolo da Star Alliance)

[P44]

The Star Alliance Network Welcomes TAP Portugal as the Alliances 16th Member Carrier

LISBON, March 14th, 2005 – At a joining ceremony held in Lisbon today, representatives of the Star Alliance welcomed TAP Portugal as their 16th member. With Portugal’s leading airline having joined, the Airline Network for Earth™ now offers its customers an even greater choice of flights, especially in Europe, on the South Atlantic as well as to and from North America and Africa.By adding Lisbon to its European hubs, Star Alliance now offers ten strategically placed connecting airports across the continent. TAP also brings some very unique destinations and routes into the network, such as Madeira and the Azores on its domestic Portuguese network, the Cape Verde Islands, Guinea Bissau, Luanda, Maputo and Sao Tome and Principe in Africa as well as non-stop flights between Lisbon and the cities of Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador thus cutting travelling time from Europe to north-eastern Brazil by several hours.

“We are pleased to welcome TAP as our newest member carrier”, said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance. “With TAP, Star Alliance has again improved its network quality, thereby adding to our customer proposition and further strengthening our leading position among the aviation alliances”, he continued.Joining Star Alliance will at the same time also improve TAP’s competitive position.

TAP can now offer its customers access to the entire Star Alliance network. Moreover, TAP’s Victoria Frequent Flyer Programme now offers the Star Alliance frequent traveller benefits, such as being able to collect and redeem miles on all Star Alliance member carrier flights. Furthermore, TAP’s Victoria Gold Winners members are now also Star Alliance Gold members, being granted such privileges as access to 620 Star Alliance Gold Lounges, being allowed an extra baggage allowance and being given waitlist and airport stand by priorities. TAP’s Victoria Silver Winners members are now also Star Alliance Silver members, allowing them waitlist and airport stand by priorities across all member carriers.

Fernando Pinto, CEO TAP Portugal said: “We at TAP are extremely happy that we have joined Star Alliance today, which coincides with our 60th anniversary. Our employees have worked hard over the past years to achieve the company’s turnaround, which has now culminated in the recent launch of our new corporate image and today’s joining of Star Alliance. We all at TAP look forward to welcoming and serving all Star Alliance customers”.

As a Star Alliance member, TAP Portugal will begin to participate and sell the 2 3ten Star Alliance fare products during the course of the next month. For example, customers purchasing the very popular Round-the-World fares can then include TAP flights in their itinerary. The same is true for the European Airpass, which now includes all of TAP’s European routes. Moreover, convention organisers using Star Alliance’s tailor-made Conventions Plus product, can now also make use of TAP’s services.All in all, the Star Alliance member carriers now offer more than 15,000 daily flights covering some 795 destinations in 139 countries.About Star AllianceStar Alliance was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers global reach and a smooth travel experience.

The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways International, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. South African Airways will join the alliance within the next 12 months. Overall, the member carriers offer more than 15,000 daily flights to 795 destinations in 139 countries.About TAP PortugalTAP Portugal is the leading Portuguese airline, established in 1945 and completing 60 years in operation on March 14, 2005. Its hub in Lisbon is a key European gateway at the crossroads to continents such as Africa, North & South America, where it stands out as the leading European carrier in operation to Brazil.

TAP’s current network comprises 42 destinations in 25 different countries worldwide, with a greater range of destinations served by code-share operations with a number of partner airlines. Thus, TAP offers customers an extended and highly flexible choice while providing them with the most convenient scheduled flights and easy connectivity onto further distant destinations. The company currently operates an average of 160 – 180 daily flights on a modern fleet of 40 Airbus aircraft. A new corporate image was launched on February 1st, 2005, in time for the company’s 60th anniversary.

For further information please contact: Star Alliance Press Office TAP Portugal Press Office
Tel: +49 69 96375 183 Tel: + 351 21 841 6016
Fax: +49 69 96375 683 Fax: + 351 31 841 5881
Email: mediarelations@staralliance.com Email: gcrp.cpm@tap.pt
http://www.staralliance.com http://www.flytap.com

[Vinicius Pimenta]

Quais são os benefícios da Star Alliance? O que essa aliança significa em termos práticos operacionais?

[P44]

Quais são os benefícios da Star Alliance? O que essa aliança significa em termos práticos operacionais?

Bom, Vinicius, em termos de rotação de passageiros, é basicamente como se todas as companhias da STAR (incluindo a vossa VARIG) formassem na realidade apenas uma companhia!!!!
Em termos de transporte, transbordo , etc , facilita imenso em termos de logistica...eu sei porque de vez em qd viajo na LUFTHANSA para Frankfurt, e é muito mais fácil também em termos de viagens com escalas, fazendo transbordo pra outros destinos...
Eu posso dar o exemplo de mim próprio, que o ano passado tive de ir de Lisboa pra Viena de Aústria, e tive de ir via Frankfurt, pois não existiam á época voos directos de Lisboa para Vienna...apanhei uma seca de 5 horas em Frankfurt para um voo Frankfurt-Vienna (que demora 1h)
Para quem viaja muito (não é meu caso) as milhas acumulam em qq das companhias da Star.

Aliás , penso que a médio/longo prazo a STAR ALLIANCE, bem como a SKY TEAM (da Air FRance e Iberia) tenderão a tornar-se COMPANHIAS DE NAVEGAÇÃO PRÒPRIAS, "absorvendo" as Companhias indivduais, com vista a uma standartização que reduzirá muitos custos...