Azores Airlines vs TAP Air Portugal

Best product each one flies

Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.

One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: the cabin scores describe a business product and the fares behind Value are economy. A carrier that prices economy aggressively generally prices business the same way, but they are different products. Read Value as how an airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.

Dimension by dimension

• Seat: TAP Air Portugal

  0/10 on the A321neo / A321LR against 8/10 on the A330-900neo.

• IFE: level

  Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.

• Lounge & bags: TAP Air Portugal

  What the fare includes before you board: 5/10 against 10/10.

• Value: TAP Air Portugal

  Median premium over the cheapest carrier on the same route: 9/10 against 10/10.

Where both were priced on the same dates

Every fare is November 8–14, 2026, so a difference between two rows is a difference between two airlines and nothing else. These are economy fares, while the cabin scores above describe the business product — read them as how each airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.

What happens if the aircraft swaps

Both carriers are paying-the-same-fare-either-way propositions on some frames. The worst product each one flies:

Azores Airlines: Comfort Class is a wide 2-2 recliner, not a lie-flat business seat. The airline states about 40 degrees of recline; it is closer to US domestic first than to a transatlantic bed, and the sub-five-hour Azores sector is what it is built for.

TAP Air Portugal: Solo throne seats in the 1-1 rows; the 2-2 rows require stepping over a neighbor.

Common questions

Is Azores Airlines or TAP Air Portugal better to Europe?

TAP Air Portugal scores 9/10 against Azores Airlines at 5.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, Azores Airlines wins 0 and TAP Air Portugal wins 3. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.

Which is cheaper, Azores Airlines or TAP Air Portugal?

On the 4 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), Azores Airlines was cheaper on 2 and TAP Air Portugal on 2. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.

Does the aircraft change the answer?

Yes. TAP Air Portugal scores 8/10 on the A330-900neo and 5/10 on the A321LR. Check the equipment on your date before deciding.

Has Jon flown either of these?

Both. Azores Airlines and TAP Air Portugal are on the flown roster in business on a Europe route, so a full seven-dimension review of either can carry the Flown label.