Portugal said that TAP, the Portuguese government -controlled airline, is more important for the country’s strategy than for financial reasons, while continuing with the privatization plans of the Portuguese state airline.
-TAP is much more a strategic than financial issue-said the presidency minister (as he is officially called the head of government), António Leitão Amaro, in an interview held on Tuesday in Lisbon.
According to him, privatization is an “important” process and is underway, said Amaro, who coordinates meetings of the Council of Ministers. He avoided commenting on the schedule of the company’s sale by the Portuguese government.
The country’s prime minister Luís Montenegro has already stated that the government intends to maintain the TAP hub in Lisbon, as well as strategic routes for the country.
Who wants to buy?
The three largest airlines in Europe have already expressed interest in TAP publicly. They are:
Air France-KLM (Franco-Holandesa)
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Alemã)
GROUP IAG SA, owner of British Airways (United Kingdom)
The largest attraction of the Portuguese company is that it is today to be the main European operator in the connection between the European continent and Brazil. TAP also maintains a strong presence in Africa (where there are other former Portuguese colonies) and routes to North America.
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In recent days, TAP has been the target of a controversy in Brazil. A company flight was canceled on Saturday afternoon after the company refused to comply with a court decision that determined the boarding of a service dog (which assists people with disabilities, for example) to Portugal.
The animal belongs to an autistic child waiting for him in Portugal. A TAP manager was filed by the Federal Police (PF) by the episode at Galeão airport in the North Zone of Rio. The company preferred to cancel the flight instead of complying with the decision.
Political crisis delays sale
The Portuguese government’s plan to privatize TAP was postponed earlier this year after the Portugal Parliament overthrew the Monority Government of Montenegro center right through a vote of suspicion in March.
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Portugal held early elections on the 18th, with the victory of the ruling coalition, which expanded the number of chairs in Parliament, but without absolute majority. Montenegro and his new government have not yet been officially sworn in after the election.
Prior to the vote on distrust, the government considered it to sell at least 49% of TAP, as reported by Bloomberg in February. By choosing to sell a minority participation, the government could prevent political opposition in Parliament that would be expected if it tried to sell a majority slice.
The government reported in April that two TAP evaluation reports were underway.
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Almost rarity between the air
TAP is one of the few state airlines still available for acquisition in Europe, a region today dominated by three large aviation groups. In January, Lufthansa completed the purchase of minority participation at Italian Italian Italian Airways, while Air France-Klm acquired part of Swedish Sas AB last year.
In addition to transporting the growing number of tourists visiting Portugal, TAP connects the Portuguese diaspora around the world and also connects the continent to the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, in the middle of the Atlantic.
The Portuguese airline, led by CEO Luís Rodrigues, transported 16 million passengers in 2024, an increase of 1.6% compared to 2023.
