Group is the first to enter the race to buy TAP. Government expects to receive three proposals this Thursday — the last day of this privatization phase.
The long-standing idea finally became a proposal: the Air France-KLM presented this Thursday a non-binding offer to buy a minority stake in TAP Air Portugal, the group announced.
And the first interested group to move forward officially in the process, at a time when the Portuguese government was also awaiting expressions of interest from Lufthansa and IAG, owner of Iberia and British Airways.
“We recognize the value that TAP has built over the last 81 years: a solid hub in Lisbon, a strong brand and a unique offer with thousands of ports, providing high quality connectivity”, said the group’s executive president, Benjamin Smithm, quoted in the release this Thursday.
The official said he believes that the next chapter in the history of the Portuguese airline “must be written as part of the Air France-KLM Group, building on this legacy and taking TAP to a new level”.
Air France-KLM seeks to respond to one of the main political concerns surrounding the operation: the future of hub from Lisbon.
“TAP fully fits into Air France-KLM’s multi-hub strategy, and our The objective is to reinforce operations in Lisbon, while developing connectivity in other cities in the country, including Porto. We look forward to the next stages of this privatization process”, he added.
According to the company, this position will allow it to reinforce connectivity with strategic markets such as Brazil, as well as with the African continent, two historically relevant geographies for TAP.
The state-owned Parpública had, in a November 2025 statement, received “three declarations of expression of interest” in the privatization of TAP.
Today’s proposal comes within the scope of the ongoing privatization phase, which foresees the sale of 44.9% of TAP’s capitalto which an additional participation of 5% reserved for workersif it is not acquired by them. Even so, the Portuguese State will maintain a majority position in the company’s shareholding structure.
