TAP Portugal has taken off again from Budapest Airport after a 14-month break, marking the resumption of the Portuguese flag carrier’s link to Lisbon.

At the launch earlier, the airline confirmed that a six times weekly service will continue throughout winter and into 2018.

“We experienced a 5.9 per cent increase in Portuguese tourists last year,” explained Jost Lammers, chief executive, Budapest Airport.

He added: “It’s a great moment for us to welcome back TAP Portugal into our portfolio as well as giving us the opportunity to offer our customers the carrier’s excellent onward connections to Morocco, Brazil, Cape Verde and the Azores.”

The return of TAP Portugal to the Portuguese-Budapest market results in the Hungarian gateway doubling its seat capacity to the southern European country, meaning Budapest will offer over 180,000 seats to Portugal during 2017.