TAP to fly directly to China next summer

The Portuguese flag carrier TAP is to make a code-share deal with the Chinese airline HNA so as to have the first direct connection between China and Portugal by next June.

TAP is going to sell direct flights to China - on HNA planes - and, for instance, the Chinese company will also be able to sell TAP flights to Brazil or Africa. HNA is China’s largest private airline, and it is a shareholder in Azul, controlled by David Neeleman - one of the owners of TAP -, through the Atlantic Gateway consortium which also includes Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa. On Tuesday, Turismo de Portugal announced that the direct flights between China and Portugal would begin in June 2017, with three or four flights per week.