See Portugal

In the classic Humphrey Bogart film Casablanca, everyone wanted to be on the plane to Lisbon. Some things never change. Portugal, being one of the most beautiful destinations around, offers many possibilities for those still looking to be on that plane. This post will look at some options available to make your way to Portugal.

Portugal’s national airline is TAP, or Transportes Aéreos Portugueses. There main hub is Lisbon Airport, and TAP Portugal is a member of the Star Alliance. They currently offer flights to many destinations in Europe, North, Central, and South America, as well as flying to Africa.

TAP Portugal was founded in 1945, their first route going from Lisbon to Madrid. Most recently in the news, TAP Portugal, in contract with Esperito Santo International, acquired 99.81 percent of Portugal’s regional airline, Portugália. It is still unclear if Portugália will also join Star Alliance.

For Europeans, flights to Portugal will most likely take place directly through TAP Portugal, or through one of the following Codeshare Agreements:

• Aegean Airlines
• All Nippon Airways
• Air One
• Austrian Airlines
• British Midland Airways
• Croatia Airlines
• Egypt Air
• Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• SATA International
• Spanair
• Swiss International Airlines
• TACV
• TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas)
• Thai International Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Ukraine International Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways

TAP Portugal offers an overnight flight from New Jersey, so most American visitors to Portugal will connect there. Since New Jersey and Lisbon somewhat face each other across the Atlantic, this connection offers one of the shortest (about 6 hours), and most convenient ways for American tourists to arrive in Europe. Continental Airlines also offers the same overnight route from New Jersey to Lisbon.

Flights between the UK and Faro Airport are not only quite common, but reasonably priced. The flight usually takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes, or 3 hours depending on your point of departure. The time zones between the Algarve and the UK are the same all year round. Below is a list of some flights between the UK and Faro:

Norwich— Flybe
Manchester— Jet 2 & Monarch
Leeds— Jet 2
Doncaster— Sheffield - Thomsonfly
Birmingham— Monarch & Flybe
Nottingham East Mids— Easyjet & BMI Baby
Coventry— Thomsonfly
Bournemouth— Thomsonfly
Exeter— Flybe
Cardiff— BMI Baby
Bristol— EasyJet, Thomson Fly
Southampton— Flybe
Luton— Monarch & Easyjet
Gatwick— BA, Monarch, EasyJet
Stansted— EasyJet
Heathrow— TAP Air Portugal
Belfast— EasyJet
Dublin— Aer Lingus, Ryan Air
Cork— Aer Lingus

The other way to reach Portugal is through Porto. Ryanair started to fly from London to Porto in 2005, and now it is possible to reach Porto through Liverpool and Dublin. There are a limited number of flights to Porto directly from other major European cites. In the UK, the service is as follows:

Birmingham International— Ryanair

Dublin— Ryanair

Liverpool John Lennon— Ryanair

London Gatwick— Tap Air Portugal

London Stansted— Ryanair

This list is by no means exclusive–or even all that useful really–but it does show some of the major flights, and most common routs to Portugal. TAP Portugal is a very reputable airline, so if you are looking to be on that plane to Lisbon, perhaps start there.