It’s time to leave Albufeira, heading to Faro where I will fly to Lisbon before reaching Paris, still on TAP as on the outward journey.

For the record the routing of this trip :

And all the articles that refer to it.

#1	Type	Review
1	Flight	Paris Orly-Lisbon on TAP in Business Class
2	Flight	Lisbonne-Faro on TAP in business Class
3	Hotel	Pine Cliffs Hotel Ocean Suites – Albufeira
4	Flight	Faro-Lisbon in business class on TAP
5	Flight	Lisbon-Paris Orly in business on TAP

Check-in and ground experience

As for the outward journey, the online registration will be hell. In addition, there is a new sanitary form that is as practical as ever and the registration session closes the time it takes to fill out the form.

The TAP digital experience will definitely not leave me with fond memories, even if they are not responsible for the health forms.

I arrive a little early at the airport.

From the outside it is modern and quite well designed.

The check-in is not yet open to drop my luggage so I take the opportunity to make a quick tour of the place. To some extent it reminds me (in a much smaller way) of Palma de Mallorca airport: sized to receive hordes of tourists in summer it looks totally oversized in low season

Meanwhile, there is a rush at EasyJet.

The check-in opens and everyone rushes to it, premium line included. The staff turns away the passengers who don’t have access to it and suddenly I’m second in line.

The operation will go quickly and I head for the security checks.

So much for the fast track.

I find myself in the long line but finally it will go fast enough, an agent opening another passage to speed up the traffic.

I go through the duty free…

…and I find myself in the middle of a small plaza where bars, restaurants and stores are mixed. Outside this perimeter there is nothing.

And of course the lounge is closed.

I just have to find a place to sit and wait while watching a movie on my iPad because the departure area isn’t open yet.

The door is finally announced but when I reach it, it is not yet open. Notice the corridors of the airport which are of a great cheerfulness…

So we pile up in the corridor without any possibility to sit down.

I take a look at Flightradar24 : the plane is announced with 20 minutes of delay...but as often it is announced on time by the airport.

Boarding

The doors finally open and the boarding passes and health documents are checked. What a waste of time, this should have been done at check-in.

We settle down and wait.

Next to the easyjet from earlier which is ready for departure.

And our TAP finally arrives.

We end up embarking very orderly with a strict respect of the priorities. Moreover, at the beginning only premium passengers are invited to join the door.

So I’ll get on the plane first.

The business class cabin of the TAP A319

And here I am on board. It is the usual medium-haul cabin of TAP.

There is ample legroom. I even feel like it’s better than what I’ve had on my previous flights between Orly and Lisbon and Lisbon and Faro.

As on the outbound flight, there are 4 business rows for 6 passengers out of the 16 possible.

We are ready to go.

The flight and the service

We leave the greyness of the only day of rain of the week in Faro. I chose my date well.

Finally the sun…

I use the very useful tablet holder to watch a movie…

As with the outbound trip, the service will be minimaldue to the length of the flight, although I think they could do a little better. Water or orange juice?

Still this strange way of closing the separation curtains…

And the sun is starting to set as we begin our approach to Lisbon

Landing and arrival in Lisbon

The weather is better in the Portuguese capital.

We land gently and we will park at the gate. That’s a start.

I land in the first ones and make a last hello to the bird of the day before leaving to take my connection to Paris.

The staff

Pleasant but since it has almost nothing to do on the flight it is difficult to say.

Conclusion

Always a problem of timing on the boarding at TAP that becomes recurrent…

Otherwise a minimal service due to the length of the flight but I think they could do a little more. I think that all the business class passengers on this route are in connection so that the price of their ticket is justified elsewhere but still…

If you add to that the experience in the airport, it’s still a bit rough.