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Why Tap Air Portugal Sold Its Boeing 747s
Nov 27, 2020
TAP Air Portugal is, aside from its regional turboprops, an all-Airbus airline. But a few decades ago, that wasn’t the case. In 1972, two Boeing 747-200s arrived at the airline, joined by a further two a couple of years later. By 1984, no more 747s existed at the airline. Why did TAP give up on the Queen?
TAP Portugal’s dalliance with the Queen
The modern-day TAP is a very European airline. Apart from a handful of ATR turboprops, the Portuguese carrier is an all-Airbus operation . From its widebody A330s to its small A319s, it has not flown a Boeing since the last 737 left in April 2001.
But that was not always the case. Up until the late ‘80s, TAP was a very Boeing-led operator, and even flew the Queen of the Skies herself. TAP welcomed its first Boeing 747-200 in February 1972. During the rest of the decade, the airline operated four of these aircraft, flying mainly to destinations in Africa and New York.
In 1974, TAP was the first European airline to undertake major and complete overhauls of the Boeing 747 engines – the Pratt & Whitney JT9-D powerplants. Clearly, the airline was committed to the type, at least for a short while.
By 1984, no more 747s existed at TAP, with the last leaving the fleet in October that year. Let’s take a look at why TAP gave up on the Queen of the Skies, and what happened to those jumbos after.
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