TAP Executive, Madrid Barajas - Lisbon Portela, Airbus A320: badly delayed, shameful service

I left the lounge about 45 minutes before my flight to Lisbon was due to depart.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:

#	Type	Post
1	Diary	Conference in Paris and weekend in Madrid
2	Lounge	United Club, Boston Logan
3	Flight	United Domestic First, Boston Logan – Washington Dulles, Boeing 737 MAX 9
4	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines Business, Washington Dulles – Copenhagen Kastrup, Airbus A350-900
5	Lounge	Scandinavian Airlines Gold Lounge, Copenhagen Kastrup
6	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Copenhagen Kastrup – Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Boeing 737-800
7	Hotel	Le Parchamp, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Boulogne-Billancourt
8	Flight	TAP Executive, Paris Orly – Lisbon Portela, Airbus A321LR
9	Lounge	TAP Lounge, Lisbon Portela
10	Flight	TAP Executive, Lisbon Portela – Madrid Barajas, Embraer 190
11	Hotel	The Madrid EDITION
12	Lounge	Puerta del Sol Lounge, Madrid Barajas
13	Flight	TAP Executive, Madrid Barajas – Lisbon Portela, Airbus A320
14	Flight	TAP Executive, Lisbon Portela – Paris Orly, Airbus A321NEO
15	Hotel	Moxy Paris Val d’Europe
16	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle – Oslo Gardermoen, Boeing 737-700
17	Hotel	Moxy Oslo X
18	Lounge	Scandinavian Airlines Gold Lounge, Oslo Gardermoen
19	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Oslo Gardermoen – Copenhagen Kastrup, Airbus A320NEO
20	Lounge	Eventyr Lounge, Copenhagen Kastrup
21	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines Business, Copenhagen Kastrup – Boston Logan, Airbus A321LR

Today’s itinerary

Boarding

When I arrived at the gate, boarding was about to begin.

As usual with the Portuguese airline, 4 queues were formed according to boarding priorities – A to C for economy class, and a dedicated priority line marked separately.

A few moments later, boarding began and priority passengers were invited to board first.

Surprisingly, on time! Unusual on TAP Air Portugal.

Cabin and welcome

I was greeted courteously upon my entrance in the aircraft.

The cabin on this aircraft was a classic medium-haul cabin, with the middle Business seat neutralized.

As usual on TAP, a delayed start-up was also planned, by almost 20 and then 40 minutes compared to the scheduled timetable.

In the end, we left almost an hour behind schedule. Nothing unusual on TAP.

Service and catering

Service began about ten minutes after takeoff.

Trays were handed out dispassionately and without a smile.

No personalized drinks were offered, but a tray of orange juice and glasses of still water was brought out. I took an orange juice.

Apart from the fruit, which were good, the sandwich was awful. In fact, no one ate it. The flight attendant brought peanuts out of despair. It’s depressing!

Arrival and disembarkation

We arrived at the gate 50 minutes late, leaving me 41 minutes before the departure of my flight to Paris Orly.

But that was without taking into account the use of a PAXBus, which again costed me precious minutes.

Bottom line

A flight that had started well with successful ground operations in Madrid, but once again congestion problems in Lisbon derailed everything. And on-board service really not up to scratch.