TAP pulls out of London City

Uncertainty over what will happen when the UK leaves the European Union was blamed by TAP Air Portugal last week for its decision to cease operations into London City Airport (LCY) at the end of October.

The Brexit factor was quoted by the Portuguese daily newspaper Diario de Noticias but the airport said the move to suspend Lisbon and Porto flights was because of over-capacity in the relevant markets.

A statement by the airport added: “We are naturally disappointed … route churn is an industry reality, but we hope we may see TAP back at London City in the future, as their services were valued by many.”

LCY said in the meantime it would “focus on re-distributing these sought-after slots with new and existing airlines” and look ahead to its new Antwerp service (see BTN last week New Air Antwerp service heads for London) “during what’s likely to be a record-breaking year for passengers at London City”.

TAP said it would try to compensate for pulling out of LCY by adding more seats on flights to Lisbon and Porto departing from Heathrow and Gatwick during peak periods.

The airline’s Porto route runs daily on weekdays with Lisbon flights operating twice daily Monday to Friday and once at weekends.

www.flytap.com

www.londoncityairport.com

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