TAP Air Portugal Review (Funchal to London Gatwick), AIBUS A320

TAP Air Portugal A321 Parked at Funchal: Copyright Navjot Singh

TAP Air Portugal A321 Parked at Funchal: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh

Route: Funchal International Airport (Madeira Island) to London Gatwick

Departure date and time of flight: 16:00pm on the 4th of August 2009

Flight Number: TP0348

Flight duration: 3h 45m

Class: Economy Class

Aircraft type: Airbus A320-200

Punctuality of the flight:

The flight departed from a very quite Funchal Airport on time, and landed at Gatwick without any delays.

Any baggage issues:

No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece.

Comments on the check-in staff and any issues:

Checking in at Funchal seemed very straight forward. The airport is not that busy- with the majority of the flights being intended within Europe. The majority of the flights are charter flights for tour operators, and not scheduled flights as one would expect from an international airport.  

Comments regarding the pre-meal service:

Choice of drinks (tea, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, lemonade or Coca Cola), and wine. Champagne was also offered.

Comments regarding the first meal:

Lunch was served around 35 minutes after departure. The meal seemed to be fresh because the flight departed from its home base. For starters there was a fabulous penne pasta salad (blended in with black pepper and some boiled vegetables), and a soft bread roll served with a small amount of Portuguese butter. The main dish contained fish with boiled rice and a dish consisting of a Spanish omelette. The beautiful thing about this meal was that it was not messy. What I mean by this is that a passenger that is eating this meal would be able to eat the contents without spilling the all over the place (as it usually happens on a flight!). The fish was delicious- neatly dressed in a thick tomato and herb sauce.

To polish off the meal, a lovely thick cubed shaped rich fruit cake was served. All that was missing was a hot custard or chocolate sauce to top the cake.

Comments regarding the drinks service:

A second round of drinks were offered after the meal- this also consisted of wine and Champagne.

Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any):

None

Comments regarding the second meal (if any):

None

Comments on the in-flight system (if any):

Only the overhead PVT screens were in place.

Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew:

The cabin crew were very professional and polite. Despite the flight being full, there was certain calm in the cabin- no noise, no complaints. Just a normal flight, without any incidents.

Improvements that could be made:

This was a great flight, and on such a short flight, it is difficult to find any faults. Everything was just fine.

Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): 

The A320 has a standard 3-3 configuration for Economy Class and 2-2 for Business Class. TAP Air Portugal has a clean and fresh looking interior. The airlines colours of lime green and red are portrayed on the design of the seats. The seats are very comfortable, with a recline enough to stretch the legs during the short haul flight (although it can be sometimes classed as Medium Haul because it approach almost 4 hours)

Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best):10