Museum

The TAP museum unit was created in 1978 at the initiative of the Board of Directors, but it was only to open officially on 14 March 1985 as part of the company's 40th anniversary celebrations.

In November 1997, as Expo’98 approached and following around ten years of uncertainty, a permanent work team was assigned to the project. Their main backline task has been to classify, inventory and store items of interest, with a view to preserving and displaying the company’s history.

However, the space limitations of the exhibition area, at the company’s head office next to Lisbon airport, meant it was unable to respond to all the requests it received. It was due to the interest always shown by the public, as well as by numerous organisations including the Portuguese Air Force, that the museum participated in a range of important events.

The Portuguese Air Force and TAP are recognised to have operated in close cooperation and shared resources throughout their histories. In continuation of this tradition, they signed an agreement on 14 October 2009 as part of the Portuguese aviation centenary celebrations, with a view to working together to preserve the memory of national military and civil aviation, and to displaying the history of aviation in Portugal.

A few months later, on 29 January 2010, the new premises of the Air Museum at Granja do Marquês, Sintra, opened to the public, thanks to a three-way partnership between the Ana-Aeroportos, Air Force and TAP Portugal museums.

The second phase of the renovation work began around two years later. Now that the restoration has been completed, the new Air Museum exhibition area will be reopening on 29 June 2012.

The collection on display will recount the history of military and civil aviation in Portugal. Visitors will be able to see 40 aircraft, including a TAP DC3, simulators, engines and other exhibits. A panel of photographs in the main hangar tells the story of 100 years of aviation in Portugal.

The Pioneer Room will also be opened to the public. It will display items associated with the Portuguese aviators who were pioneers in the progress of aviation.

The Air Museum also boasts a library of 5,000 works that are available to the public for consultation. And to contribute to the museum's education service, the Multimedia Room sponsored by Sintra Municipal Council will also be opened on that day.

While TAP's exhibition area will be at the Air Museum in Sintra, the TAP Documentation Section and Museum Archives will remain in the TAP enclosure adjacent to Lisbon Airport. By appointment, visitors will be able to consult documentation as diverse as flight logs, photographs, manuals and advertising material.