Trip Report: TAP Business Class Lisbon to Prague
Flying Business Class on TAP Air Portugal is pretty similar to flying in Business on many European airlines. There is a meal and lunge access, but no special seat or entertainment: there doesn't need to be, for the flight can only be an hour or so, and you'll spend longer on the ground.
As soon as I was airside at Lisbon I went in search of the TAP Air Portugal Lisbon Airport business class lounge, up the escalator in the middle of the terminal.
On Air Portugal there is complementary access to the lounge. This is less of a perk than it sounds, with the TAP Lisbon lounge probably just large enough to accommodate the number of passengers at midday on a Tuesday in November, but when I was flying, in mid summer at a weekend, it's full to bursting, and then some.
The TAP Air Portugal Lisbon Lounge is a brand new lounge, and vastly better than the old one which was little more than a holding pen with spirit bottles. There is no avoiding the way it IS small but it has a nice selection of food and drinks, including amazing Pasteis de Nata, or Portuguese Egg Tarts, which are a must try if you are in Lisbon.
There is also a decent staffed bar which makes excellent cocktails, including large bowls of gin and tonic.
However, it's quite apparent that the TAP Lisbon lounge is not large enough to handle all the traffic at the airport.
After hunting for a space and grabbing some food and drink, I was happy when after a short delay, boarding was called, and it was quite a hike to the gate down a rather decrepit corridor at the furthermost part of the terminal.
I tried to take a photo of the aircraft, and was immediately pounced on by the ground staff, who gave me a stern ticking off. Apparently I should 'know' that photography is banned at all airport around the world? Really? Only at Lisbon, it seems.
There are three queues for boarding: one for premium passengers, another for zone A and a third one for zone B passengers. This, as it turned out, was ludicrous. Everyone rushed forward at the same time, and rather pointlessly too.
However, the ground crew were obviously not there to help their passengers: instead I believe they considered them somewhere between an inconvenience and a threat.
All the passengers were let on to the airbridge - in sweltering Portuguese mid-summer temperatures - and left there, not able to board the plane. It was clear the airbridge was to be used as a holding pen for about 40 minutes, before the aircraft was made ready. Now, delays happen, but to leave all your passengers standing when they could sit at the gate or lounge? However, it appeared the ground crew, once they had got the last passenger onto the airbridge could declare that boarding was completed just 29 minutes late, and shut the doors.
TAP Air Portugal A320 Business Class
The TAP Air Portugal A320 I am flying on had been fitted with the new cabin interior.
It was a regular Recaro slimline seat but in the new TAP colours, and pretty smart.
Every seat has an adjustable headrest and there are two power plugs for the three seats.
The seats are arranged in a typical 2 + 2 configuration, with the middle seat left empty in Business Class, as is normal in Europe. Yet again, I wondered why I had paid extra for Business, when it was clear that I couldn't get any better seat.
Thankfully, there was only one other passenger in Business, and the aisle seat on my row remained empty so I could spread out.
I needed to. We waited another hour before taxing, and finally wheels rolled just a shade under two hours late.
Thankfully, it was a lovely day, and the view of the bridges over the River Tagus and the slow flowing waters which helped create magnificent Lisbon looked superb. Who needs IFE, when there is a window on a sunny day!
TAP Air Portugal A320 Business Class service
The crew consisted of one firmly polite man, and one very formal woman. They were very nicely turned out in TAP Air Portugal's uniform, but made no attempt to chat or engage in any form of conversation: they seemed to have gone to the United cabin crew school on that front.
Once we're airborne, the service began with the distribution of small, prepackaged, cold towels. It's a nice touch, but we were only given one each: it was clear that service was to be done by the book. There was however a whole drawer of the towels in the toilets.
Menus were also handed out, on a small photocopied piece of card.
There were also a pillow and a blanket on the seat, which is a nice touch for a daytime flight in Europe.
Entertainment was of course non-existent, unless you count a copy of TAP's inflight magazine, UP. It's actually not as bad a read as you might think.
There were no trolleys for the drinks and meal service, with the crew coming out and serving each passenger in Business Class individually. All two of us.
Given the heat and delays of boarding, I thought that the crew would immediately run around with drinks, but instead it was a full hour after wheels rolling that the drinks order began.
I went for a gin and tonic, and I was pleased to see that TAP served Sharps gin out of a proper miniature bottle, along with a packet of peanuts.
However, once the meal service began the crew did pop back through the cabin, offering more drinks and bread, and taking our orders from the menu.
Choices were Black port Terraine with sweet potatoes, or Ricotta and spinach pasta in chicken carbonara sauce.
I can report back with a definite, err, definiteness, that it was absolutely terrible.
Lukewarm, looking and indeed tasting, rather like dogfood. It was woeful.
The only good thing about the food tray was the plate with a slice of parma ham, which by contrast was a delight, and enabled me to make a ham roll.
I have a glass of white wine with my dinner, but the crew knew nothing about what they were serving.
According to the menu dessert should have been pineapple sponge cake. Alas, the crew just handed me a bowl of raw cherries. When I queried it, they just shrugged, and told me 'it wasn't loaded'.
As soon as I've finished, one of the cabin crew comes to remove my tray, but didn't ask if there was anything else I'd like to drink. Accordingly I have to resort to pressing the bell, and asking: she seems surprised that anyone would like another drink, but goes to get it with a curt OK. I opt for some of Portugal's finest: the Port of course, and a decent one it is too.
Following this, and since we still have nearly two hours to go, I ask for a cup of coffee, which is excellent, and a glass of champagne, which is equally good.
Sadly, the wine list just offers 'selected wines', which doesn't help determine what you'll be drinking, and alas this was another area the crew were not knowledgeable about.
Two hours late, we descend into Prague, for a wonderful Prague late summer sunset. The city really looked amazing, and was just a short tram ride away.
TAP Air Portugal Shorthaul Business Class Review
So would I recommend TAP Air Portugal Business Class Shorthaul around Europe?
It's a bit of a mixed bag. The seat, of course, is nothing. Just the usual economy seat. TAP inflight meals are miserable, and the crew quite simply uninspired. The lounges were overcrowded with only average facilities. And yet, I found in the end I rather enjoyed the experience. It's not great, but at least it offers something unusual around Europe.
See the full Trip Report: TAP Business Class Lisbon to Prague video:
TAP Air Portugal Business Class from Lisbon to Prague
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TAP Air Portugal Business Class from Lisbon to Prague longest Inter-Europe flight, from Lisbon to Prague turns into a delight.
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Great flight by lux-traveller, November 19, 2019 rated: 3 out of 5  In Business Class there is an Excellent lounge, free hot meals, and a decent bar on board.
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| Seats: | 4 - Standard economy seats with a little more space |
| Food: | 3 - OK, nothing more |
| Service: | 4 - Professional if uninspired crew |
| IFE: | 0 - None, other than inflight magazine.
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