TAP Portugal (Lisbon) is to replace its PGA Portugalia Airlines (Lisbon) brand with a newly created one - TAP Express - which will come into being later this March. In a statement, the Portuguese carrier said TAP Express would reinforce TAP's corporate identity across the board resulting in a more consistent image and product.

In terms of fleet operations, Portugalia's ageing fleet of six Fokker 100s and eight E145s will be replaced with nine E190s (operated under Portugalia's AOC) and eight ATR72s (operated by White (WI, Lisbon)). All are sourced from sister carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, São Paulo Viracopos).

According to ch-aviation schedule data, operations will commence on March 27 with the first EMB-190 flights from Lisbon to be: Nice, Funchal, Lyon St. Exupéry, Nantes, Bordeaux Mérignac, Paris Orly, Faro and Madrid Barajas, followed by Marseilles, Toulouse Blagnac, and Barcelona El Prat on May 1 and Algiers and Porto on June 1. Initial flights out of Porto, which will also launch on March 27, will include: Geneva, Funchal, and Madrid Barajas.

Initial ATR72-600 flights, which will be operated for TAP by White (WI, Lisbon), will also commence on March 27 with the following flights from Lisbon: Porto (up to 6x daily), Sevilla, La Coruna, Asturias, Casablanca Mohamed V, Tangiers, and Valencia Manises. Bilbao will start from June 1 followed by Marrakech on July 1.

Thus far, one ex-Azul ATR72-600 - PR-AQW (cn 1232) - has been seen sporting TAP Express's livery.