AD government committed to re-privatisation of TAP
The Air France-KLM airline group has said today that it remains “very interested” in the possibility of buying TAP as part of the government project to reprivatise the currently State-owned company.
A group source told Spain’s EFE news service: “The Air France-KLM group is monitoring the situation in Portugal. As we have already said, we are very interested in the TAP privatisation project and are awaiting the next steps”.
This is something of a turnabout, in as much as previous reports said the group had “given up on the purchase due to the political situation in Portugal”, writes Lusa.
The Portuguese State holds the entire capital of TAP, having increased its stake when the airline got into difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The reprivatisation process began last September, when the previous Socialist government approved the conditions of the sale. However, it was put on hold after Prime Minister António Costa’s resignation and the ensuing elections.
The programme of the country’s new centre-right government includes launching “the process of privatising TAP’s share capital” – but does not elaborate any further.
In addition to Air France-KLM, Spanish-British group IAG – the parent company of Iberia, British Airways and Vueling – as well as Germany’s Lufthansa have expressed interest.
Earlier this year, TAP announced a ‘record’ profit of €177.3 million for 2023 – a year in which it also achieved “unprecedented revenues in the company’s history, in excess of €4.2 billion”.
The airline has received roughly €3.2 billion in State aid – a sum former prime minister António Costa has admitted is unlikely to be recouped by any kind of sale deal.
Source material: Lusa
