TAP AIR PORTUGAL nicked operation benefits in 2002

Portuguese air company TAP AIR reaped 49.8 million euros worth of operation earnings last year for a staggering 146 percent spike compared to the 20.2 million euros churned out in 2001, the company announced.

Though revenues remain in the red, minus 6 million euros stack up for an 86 percent recovery compared to minus 43.6 million euros back in 2001.

The aforesaid figure of minus 6 million euros stand for a modest achievement in keeping with the objectives outlined in TAP’s recovery plan for 5.3 million euros, a survival scheme sketched out by the airline over two years ago before 9/11 and long before the beginning of the worst crisis civil aviation has ever been through at a world scale.

All through last year, TAP managed to put 100 million euros back in the black.

Despite the hard-edged international situation, the number of passengers has been steadily on the rise since the year before. TAP clicked up 5,563,469 air travelers, 3.3 percent more than in 2001. Load factor rates hovered around 69 percent for a 2.2 percent increase.

Forecasts for the ongoing year –regardless of the negative circumstances in the market- point to a favorable 12-month period.

TAP administrator Fernando Pinto asserted those results can only be owed to the company’s teamwork and extraordinary resiliency.