In 1966, TAP Air Portugal first started flying between Portugal and Brazil. 60 years later, the airline is celebrating that milestone and is expecting to carry 2.1 million passengers across the Atlantic between Brazil and Europe.
The relationship between TAP Air Portugal started back in 1960, when the airline operated the Friendship Flight with Panair. As of 1965, the Portuguese carrier commenced the Brazil route with flights through Lisbon, Sal, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro.
One year later, on 17 June 1966, TAP Air Portugal celebrated its first direct jet flight between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, using a Boeing 707 CS-TBA named Santa Cruz. That name referred to the Portuguese aviators Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho, who managed to complete the South Atlantic Air Crossing for the first time in 1922 using a Santa Cruz seaplane. In 1966, Captain Silva Soares flew some 80 passengers to Brazil, marking the start of regular services between Portugal and Brazil.
Ever since, connecting Europe with Brazil has become a keystone of TAP Air Portugal’s strategy. Only in December 2025, the airline announced to have broken a traffic record of over 2 million passengers on its flights to and from Brazil.
“This record on the Europe-Brazil routes reflects passengers’ confidence in TAP and the importance of the Brazilian market. Celebrating this milestone in Manaus is symbolic, as the Lisbon-Manaus route reinforces our commitment to linking the north of the country with Europe,” Carlos Antunes, TAP’s Director for the Americas, said at the time.
More recently, the airline added routes to São Luís and Curitiba (starting from 2 June 2026) to its portfolio. With the already existing designations of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Recife, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Natal/Maceió, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, and Manaus, this brings its Brazilian network to 15 destinations.
“Brazil is a strategic market of enormous relevance for TAP. With Curitiba, we’re deepening our commitment to connect Brazilian cities to Europe, while strengthening historical, cultural, and economic ties between our nations,” Carlos Antunes said when the new Curitiba connection was launched.
Overall, 2.1 million passengers are expected to travel across the Atlantic between Brazil and Europe with TAP Air Portugal in 2026.
“Brazil has served the company very well in the last 60 years and will continue to do even better in the next 60. The country has enormous growth potential and continues to be a key market for TAP,” stated Luís Rodrigues, Chief Executive of TAP Air Portugal.
According to TAP Air Portugal, the airline has played an important role in connecting Portugal and Brazil over the years, allowing the two countries to be brought closer together. Trade, cultural exchange, international connectivity, and tourism all benefit from the multitude of flights connecting Brazil and Portugal.
In the future, expanding the connectivity between the two countries and supporting the growing demand of travellers between them remains a focus point for the airline. New connections, route development, and new opportunities between Brazil, Portugal, Europe and the wider world will continue to stand central in TAP Air Portugal’s strategy.
