Rui Rio says it’s “outrageous”: flying TAP to San Francisco from Madrid is 73% cheaper than the same flight from Lisbon. It’s true? And does this happen on other TAP flights? And vice versa, does this happen with flights of foreign companies? We went to compare prices. And look for explanations
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“Unacceptable”, “Disgusting” and “Very serious”. Those were the three adjectives that Rui Rio used to describe TAP prices in this Thursday’s election debate with António Costa. The PSD president took with him a price comparison of the same TAP flight to San Francisco in the United States, one departing from Lisbon and the other from Madrid with an intermediate stop in the Portuguese capital.
“Do you know how much a Spaniard pays?” Rio asked. “A Spaniard pays 190 euros for a trip from Madrid to San Francisco with a stop in Lisbon. How much do the Portuguese pay if they fly on the same plane as from Madrid to Lisbon? Pay 697 euros.”
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Thus, a flight from Madrid is 73% cheaper. Or, in other words, from Lisbon more than three and a half times more expensive. Using an argument to criticize Antonio Costa’s government intervention, Rio dismissed: TAP “is a flagship company, but it’s a company under the Spanish flag or from any other country. We are the ones who pay.”
Is a flight from Lisbon really more expensive than from Madrid?
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CNN Portugal analyzed the flights in question: Rui Rio used the Sky Scanner website to compare round-trip fares from TAP to San Francisco between January 24 and 31, 2022. The first flight departed Lisbon at 9:55 am and arrived in California at 2:55 pm on January 24. On the return flight, the direct flight leaves San Francisco at 4:40 pm on January 31 and arrives at Humberto Delgado Airport the following morning. For these two flights, the Portuguese actually pays 697 euros. €507 more than a Spaniard who is on the same flight in Madrid with a stopover in Lisbon.
The example presented by Rui Rio is no exception. CNN Portugal ran several price simulations on different dates, and in all of them, traveling from Madrid with a stopover in Lisbon via TAP is significantly cheaper than traveling directly from Lisbon.
Why are flights more expensive?
When asked by CNN Portugal, TAP responded with a general explanation: prices are “determined by the law of supply and demand”, emphasizing the need for the company to position itself in the face of “strong competition in offering flights from any airport in Europe to the United States”.
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“In order for TAP to attract passengers who want to fly between Madrid or Barcelona and a destination in the US (example given, but applicable in almost all cases), there must be a price competitive with the offer of airlines operating direct flights on the same route or with a transfer at any other hub,” the company said.
“This is a pricing policy common to most airlines,” TAP also says, adding that direct flights “always have more demand than flights with stopovers.” are longer, less comfortable, and a worse product.”
Does this only happen in San Francisco?
No. CNN Portugal has run several simulations for other TAP destinations and the same pattern can be seen.
In the case of a return flight from TAP to São Paulo between 4 and 11 July, the difference in price is more than double (138%): those who depart from Madrid, pass through Lisbon, arrive in São Paulo/Guarulhos. International airport and back on the same route pays 498 euros. Those who fly direct from Lisbon pay 1187 euros.
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The same thing happens, for example, with TAP’s round trip to New York. The difference between a direct flight from Lisbon and a stopover in Madrid results in an increase in the total cost of the trip by 52 euros.
Another example. Traveling to Toronto on August 15th and returning on the 19th of the same month is €167 more expensive for a Portuguese who flies from Humberto Delgado Airport directly to Toronto Pearson International Airport than for a Spaniard who makes a stopover in Lisbon.
Is it just TAP? What prices are set by foreign companies?
Not only TAP adheres to such a pricing policy. CNN Portugal ran simulations for other foreign airlines, finding that they also charge more for direct flights from their hubs to international destinations than those arriving from another country with a stopover.
A return flight from Spain’s Iberia, direct from Madrid to Buenos Aires, Argentina, costs €171 more than a Portuguese flight departing from Lisbon on the same flight.
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The situation is identical for Lufthansa’s direct return flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong in July. If a passenger leaves Lisbon, stops in a German city, and travels to Hong Kong International Airport, they end up paying €94 less for about six hours of travel.
The cases cited illustrate what airline sources point to as a pattern: direct flights tend to be more expensive than connecting flights.
Yes, flying from Portugal directly to San Francisco is more expensive than flying from Madrid on the same flight. Yes, this happens to other TAP flights. Yes, this happens with other foreign airlines in the reverse situation. By default, direct flights are more expensive than connecting flights. Especially when air hubs (base airports) take off.
