Source: TAP
In 1922, it took over 60 hours of flying and eight stopovers for Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral to complete the first South Atlantic Air Crossing, linking Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro.
One hundred years later, TAP completed the same journey, but without stops, in around eight hours, and with a latest generation aircraft, the A330neo, which, in common with the first, only has the name: Santa Cruz.
The name of the seaplane, a Fairey III, with which Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral completed the South Atlantic Air Crossing, was painted on one of TAP’s most modern aircraft, along with the Cross of Christ, and is flying with the Company throughout 2022, in tribute to this important conquest of the skies, in Portuguese.
This special flight, a partnership with the Aeronautical Commission for the Commemoration of the Centenary of the Air Crossing, of the Air Force and the Navy, was attended by His Excellency the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the CEO of TAP, Christine Ourmières-Widener and the TAP Chairperson, Manuel Beja, who, just like 100 years ago, landed in Rio de Janeiro as Brazil prepares to celebrate its independence. The South Atlantic Air Crossing was suggested by Sacadura Cabral in 1919 to commemorate Brazil’s first centenary and took three years to prepare. It opened the way to scientifically accurate air travel thanks to an innovation of a simple sextant adapted to an artificial horizon and forever marked modern aviation, in a 4 527-mile adventure that connected Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro by air for the first time and, forever, Portugal and Brazil.
This TAP flight celebrates the courage and vision of these Portuguese heroes and the union between the two nations.