TAP’s new Orlando route drives targeted US growth as the airline expands its winter transatlantic network.
TAP Air Portugal is preparing to add another pin to its growing United States route map, with the Portuguese flag carrier scheduled to begin nonstop flights between Lisbon Airport (LIS) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) on October 29. The new route will operate three times weekly and give TAP its first-ever nonstop link to Central Florida.
Orlando is arriving at an interesting time for TAP. The airline is making remarkably few frequency changes across its established North American network this winter, yet its US operation is still growing by more than 9% year over year. Meanwhile, TAP will enter an Orlando long-haul market offering more than 100 weekly long-haul departures to Europe, Brazil, and the Middle East.
Flights will operate every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday as TP267 from Lisbon and TP268 from Orlando. The 4,132 mile (6,648 km) route has a scheduled block time of 9 hours and 50 minutes westbound and 7 hours and 50 minutes eastbound, with the latest November schedules showing TAP's Airbus A330-900neo on all three weekly rotations. Tickets are already bookable on TAP's website for dates beginning October 29.
| Flight | Route | Days | Departure | Arrival | Block Time | Aircraft | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | TP267 | Lisbon – Orlando | Mon, Thu, Sat | 2:20 PM | 7:10 PM | 9h 50m | Airbus A330-900neo | | TP268 | Orlando – Lisbon | Mon, Thu, Sat | 9:40 PM | 10:30 AM +1 | 7h 50m | Airbus A330-900neo |
The above table depicts the normal winter schedule. The October 29 and October 31 launch-week flights arrive in Orlando at 8:10 PM and depart at 10:40 PM because Portugal ends daylight saving time one week before Florida. From November 2, the timings shown in the table apply.
The timings should work particularly well for the Orlando leisure market. Travelers will arrive in Orlando in the early evening, leaving plenty of time for a hotel transfer, while the 9:40 PM return departure lets visitors keep much of their final day in Central Florida before flying overnight. Arrival in Lisbon at 10:30 AM also gives TAP the opportunity to sell connections beyond Portugal across its extensive European and African network.
TAP could have approached Orlando using its smaller A321LR, an aircraft it already relies on extensively across the Atlantic. With a 3,577 nautical mile great circle distance, LIS-MCO falls within the maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles that Airbus advertises for the A321LR, and slightly shorter than TAP's existing Manaus route with the A321LR. However, advertised range is not the same as practical airline operating range, especially on mid-winter westbound flights with high-baggage leisure travelers.
TAP has therefore chosen to use its flagship A330-900neo, whose Airspace cabin includes 34 lie-flat Business Class seats and the carrier's new "Economy Prime" cabin, which offers a 'neighbor-free guarantee' on the first three rows of economy class, as well as premium check-in, priority baggage, fast-track security, priority boarding, an enhanced amenity kit, and upgraded main meal options. Antonoaldo Neves, then-CEO of TAP, described the aircraft as follows when the airline became the launch customer of the type.
“This aircraft is the new flagship for our airline, and the first to be equipped with the new Airspace cabin, which is an innovative concept shaped to meet TAP’s ambition to offer the best product in the industry.”
TAP has been steadily adding to its North American network in recent years, with the addition of new service from Lisbon to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last year, as well as narrowbody service from Porto's Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The latter was originally planned only as a summer seasonal route, but this year will continue into the winter months with twice-weekly service.
| Winter Routes | Weekly Departures | Aircraft | |---|---|---| | Lisbon – Newark | 13 | A321LR | | Lisbon – Boston | 12 | A321LR | | Lisbon – Miami | 10 | A330-200/900neo | | Lisbon – Toronto | 8 | A321LR | | Lisbon – Washington Dulles | 7 | A321LR | | Lisbon – New York-JFK | 7 | A321LR | | Porto – Newark | 7 | A321LR | | Lisbon – San Francisco | 4 | A330-900neo | | Lisbon – Los Angeles | 3 | A330-900neo | | Lisbon – Orlando | 3 | A330-900neo | | Lisbon – Chicago O’Hare | 3 | A330-200 | | Lisbon – Montreal | 3 | A321LR | | Porto – Boston | 2 | A321LR | | | |
That extension, combined with the new LIS-MCO route, will see TAP offer more than 82 weekly flights to North America this winter. This will make it the airline's largest winter schedule ever, and a 7% increase over the same period last year.
Interestingly, much of this growth is driven by deploying the A321LRs on routes that might otherwise not sustain year-round widebody service. This serves a dual-purpose, as it preserves the airline's A330 widebodies for its lucrative long-haul routes to South America and Africa. This, in turn, is what has made TAP such an attractive acquisition target for Air France-KLM and the Lufthansa Group.
TAP is far from alone in seeing more opportunity in Orlando. The airport handled 57.7 million passengers in 2025, and added or expanded 45 routes during the year. This winter it will have 106 weekly long-haul departures across 17 international destinations, an increase of 14% over last year.
| Destination | Weekly Departures | Airline(s) | Scheduled Aircraft | |---|---|---|---| | São Paulo | 13 | LATAM | 787-8 / 787-9 | | London Gatwick | 12 | British Airways; Norse Atlantic | 777-200 / 787-9 | | London Heathrow | 11 | Virgin Atlantic | A350-1000 / A330-900neo / A330-300 | | Campinas | 8 | Azul | A330-200 / A330-900neo | | Amsterdam | 7 | Delta Air Lines | A330-900neo | | Dubai | 7 | Emirates | 777-300ER | | Frankfurt | 7 | Discover Airlines | A330-200 / A330-300 | | Manchester | 7 | Virgin Atlantic | A350-1000 / A330 | | Brasília | 7 | GOL | 737 MAX 8 | | Keflavík | 6 | Icelandair | A321neo / 737 MAX 8 | | Paris CDG | 4 | Air France | A350-900 | | Dublin | 4 | Aer Lingus | A330-200 / A330-300 | | Madrid | 4 | Iberia | A330-300 | | Lisbon | 3 | TAP | A330-900neo | | Belo Horizonte | 3 | Azul | A330-200 / 767 | | Munich | 2 | Discover Airlines | A330-300 | | Fortaleza | 1 | GOL | 737 MAX 8 | | | |
Europe accounts for most departures, but surprisingly, Brazil makes up nearly a third of Orlando's long-haul traffic, with five routes operating. This has also been the fastest-growing long-haul destination for Orlando, with LATAM increasing its daily flights from São Paulo's Guarulhos - Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU) to 13 weekly operations using its Dreamliner fleet.
Orlando also added three new long-haul destinations last year, including Air France returning from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) (it last operated the route in 2012), Iberia initiating its first service from Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) to Central Florida, and Discover Airlines connecting Munich Airport (MUC) to Orlando for the first time.
Lisbon will consequently rank relatively low by frequency, but TAP is adding something more valuable than three standalone weekly flights. Its Lisbon hub can funnel Central Florida passengers throughout Portugal and onward into Europe and Africa, while also feeding Orlando with travelers from across its network. For TAP, that makes Orlando less of a speculative outlier, and more a calculated entry into one of the United States' most developed long-haul leisure markets.
