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Record-breaking traffic and earnings for TAP

Direct News Source

08-Nov-2012

3rd quarter of 2012 best ever for airline

TAP recorded net earnings of 102,315,000 euros during the third quarter of 2012 (July, August and September), a 21% increase over the 84,566,000 euros earned during the same period in 2011. That makes it the best quarter ever in TAP history, which is even more significant considering that fuel prices continued to rise sharply.

These numbers are the result of TAP's good operational performance and they confirm the heavier impact of second semester earnings on annual profits due to the seasonal nature of the airline's markets.

During this period, the airline transported 3,110,344 passengers, and for the first time in its history, passenger traffic surpassed the one million mark in each month. August figures were particularly impressive, with 1,071,255 passengers, making it the airline's best month on record.

For TAP chairman, Fernando Pinto, this performance confirms the "adaptability and efficiency that characterise the airline today".

"The fact that more than two-thirds of the airline's income was generated overseas, and that our network covers different areas of the world, including Eastern Europe, Africa and the Americas, helps shield the company from periodic disturbances in one specific market or another", he pointed out.

Markets that have shown the most growth and have contributed to this string of records include Europe, particularly Belgium/Luxembourg, Germany, Scandinavia and the Eastern European countries. Bucharest, the airline's most recent venture, is off to a great start. The United States market also showed a growth of 22%, reflecting the success of the airline's Miami route.

In terms of cumulative results from the first nine months of the year, TAP has transported 7,817,047 passengers, 4.1 percent more than in the same period of 2011, which is also a new record for the airline. At the same time, TAP has also made a decisive contribution to the increase in overall traffic at Portuguese airports (+1.4%).

These results have contributed decisively towards making the TAP Group's earnings this quarter the best ever. Three-month cumulative earnings of 89,718,000 were achieved during the three months in question, which represents a 29% improvement over the same period last year.

Groundforce recorded 1.1 million euros in earnings, which represents an 84% improvement, while M&E Brasil, despite recording a loss of 13,696,000 euros, showed a 12% improvement over the same period in 2012, continuing the company's recovery trajectory that was already apparent in 2011.