As reported by TAP Air Portugal, the new route will begin on 25 October, with flights operated by the Airbus A320neo aircraft.

The service will initially operate twice a week, with departures from Porto on Thursdays and Sundays at 8.50pm and arrivals at Amílcar Cabral International Airport at 12.20am.

Return flights will leave Sal on Fridays and Mondays at 1.20am, reaching Porto at 6.40am.

Summer season

During the IATA summer season, from 29 March to 24 October, the schedule will change.

Flights will leave Porto on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9.05pm, arriving in Sal at 1.35am the following day.

The return service will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, departing Sal at 2.35am and arriving in Porto at 6.55am.

The addition of Sal follows TAP’s expansion of its Porto network earlier this year, with new services to Terceira in the Azores and Praia in Cape Verde launched on 1 and 2 July respectively.

International network

TAP now operates more than 130 direct flights each week from Porto to destinations across its international network.

Its intercontinental schedule includes services to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, New York, Boston, Luanda, Praia and Sal, alongside European destinations such as London, Paris, Zurich and Geneva.

The airline has also made its Porto-Boston service a year-round route rather than a seasonal operation.

From the UK, TAP currently operates flights from London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester to Lisbon and Porto, with onward connections to destinations across Brazil, Africa, Madeira, the Azores, the United States and Canada.

Passengers travelling on long-haul TAP itineraries can also take advantage of the airline’s Stopover programme, which allows travellers to spend up to 10 days in Lisbon or Porto during their journey without paying an additional airfare for the stopover.