TAP Air Portugal is soaring to new heights with its newest route to Florianópolis, the capital of the state of Santa Catarina, in Southern Brazil. 

From 3 September 2024, the Portuguese airline will offer three weekly flights between Lisbon and Florianópolis – Hercílio Luz International Airport, making it the only airline to offer a direct connection from Europe. With Forianópolis becoming the airline’s 12th destination in Brazil, TAP continues to develop its strategy reinforcing the geographical convenience of Portugal as a gateway to Brazil and South America.

Flights to the coastal city of Florianópolis, in Santa Catarina, will be operated by the airline’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering customers the choice of 244 seats in Economy and 25 in Business Class.

With a flight time of only 11 hours, Brits can reach the surfing hub of South America in no time, giving more time to top up their tan on Florianópolis’ beautiful beaches. The new flights between Lisbon and Florianópolis will operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, departing Lisbon between 10:10 and 10:50 and arriving in Florianópolis between 17:15 and 17:55 local time.

On the return, flights depart from the capital of Santa Catarina between 19:35 and 20:40, arriving into the Portuguese capital between 09:50 and 10:55 the following morning. Luís Rodrigues, TAP Air Portugal CEO, said: “The launch of the flight to the state of Santa Catarina has been under consideration for some time.

“For TAP, it is very important that we have been able to bring forward the launch of this new route to a time when, due to the state of calamity in Rio Grande do Sul and the closure of Porto Alegre airport, the south of Brazil needs it so much.

“An increase in supply to our biggest market, which is Brazil, is something we always want. With this new route, TAP reinforces its commitment to continue investing to be the European airline of choice for customers travelling to/from Brazil.”

Tickets for flights to Florianópolis are now available on flytap.com and from local travel agents, with return fares starting at only £515, including taxes and charges. Services have also been timed to allow smooth connections onto TAP’s UK and Ireland network, including London Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Dublin.

The new route to Florianópolis allows TAP to maintain its record level of flights during the European summer, despite the temporary suspension of flights to Porto Alegre due to poor weather in the region.

This summer, TAP will offer customers 95 weekly flights between Lisbon and Brazil, an average of more than 13 flights a day, departing from 11 Brazilian state capitals.

The airline already flies directly from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Natal, Maceió, Porto Alegre, Recife and Salvador to Lisbon, as well as connecting Porto to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

In total, TAP will now serve 12 cities in Brazil, totalling 14 routes from a combination of Lisbon and Porto.

For 10 consecutive years, TAP has been voted Europe’s Leading Airline to South America by the World Travel Awards in recognition of its excellent service. It also received the MICE Award for Best European Airline.