TAP Air Portugal, a fairly low-key presence in North America up to a few years ago, is adding its eighth destination with service to San Francisco starting in June. The flights will likely use the airline’s new A330neo planes.
The announcement comes only a few weeks after its announcement of service to Chicago and Washington, DC. The expansion has come mostly since David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue and Azul airlines, became a major shareholder in TAP three years ago. The airline has also grown aggressively in Europe. Neeleman has his eyes on two more North American cities by later next year.
Neeleman’s ambition doesn’t stop with growing TAP. He’s the lead investor in a new U.S. airline that’s code-named Moxy but won’t be called that when it flies in 2021. It already has a fleet of Airbus A220s on order, but Neeleman told USA Today it’s too soon to expect him to give any details.
