Hollywood Studios, Santa Monica Boulevard and Venice Beach are now closer to Portugal. On 16 May, TAP Air Portugal launched its direct route between Lisbon and Los Angeles, operated by an Airbus A330-900 with capacity for 298 passengers.

AP connects the two cities three times a week, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays until 26 May, when it adds a fourth weekly service on Saturdays.  The flights take off from Lisbon at 09:55 and arrive in Los Angeles at 14:40, lasting 12 hours and 45 minutes. On the return, the flights leave Los Angeles at 16:40 and land at Humberto Delgado Airport at 12:00 the following day, with a shorter duration of 11 hours and 20 minutes. Prices start at £572 for Economy Class return journeys.

With the new connection to Southern California and the capital of cinema, TAP is also launching a competition in a partnership with actor José Condessa, activated on social media.

Through a casting, participants must recreate a scene from their favourite film or series and be in with a chance of winning a round trip for two to Los Angeles from Lisbon and two tickets to Paramount Studios.

TAP now flies from Lisbon to eight US airports in New York, Newark, Boston, Miami, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago and now Los Angeles, and from Porto to Newark and, as of this week, also to Boston. From 3 June, one of TAP’s weekly flights between Lisbon and San Francisco, on Tuesdays, will make a stopover in Terceira, thus allowing the company to offer a new direct flight between the Azores and California, in order to serve the large Azorean community.

For more information on TAP’s new routes and to buy tickets, visit www.flytap.com