Portugal's National Airline TAP To Be Privatized

The Portuguese government has announced its intention to sell at least 51% of the state-owned airline TAP to foster the development of the national aviation sector.

At least 51% of the state-owned airline TAP will be sold to foster the development of the national aviation sector. I Photo: TAP Air Portugal Facebook

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Fernando Medina, as reported by Veronica Romano for Euronews.

Medina specified that prospective bidders must be industry players with significant scale, and it appears that several major European airline groups are interested. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, British Airways, and the owner of Iberia, IAG, have all expressed their interest.

A spokesperson for the Franco-Dutch airline holding, Air France-KLM, stated that the group had a "strong interest in the privatization of TAP" and was awaiting further details.

Similarly, IAG's CEO, Luis Gallego, mentioned, "We'll have to study the process carefully, but we feel optimistic and believe that TAP can become another success story within IAG."

Lufthansa also sees potential opportunities in this move. In a statement to the French news agency AFP, the German company indicated that the two airlines could complement each other "very well, particularly thanks to TAP's network of routes to and from South America," where there is a growing market.

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