Airline: Portugal brings TAP privatization on the way

The privatization of state air society TAP, which has been discussed in Portugal for around three years, is now taking on concrete forms. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in Lisbon announced. Five percent of this would go to the employees. “We don’t want to continue to throw money into a support,” said the conservative head of government in a TV address. One is convinced that there will be many interested parties.

The tap privatization, which has only been slow so far, is carefully pursued in the European aviation industry. The potentially interested groups include industry giants such as Lufthansa, Air France-Klm and the British Airways and Iberia-Muttergesellschaft IAG. According to Montenegro, Lisbon hopes for more economic stability for TAP and impulses for the national economy from a strategic partner.

TAP, founded in 1945, has more than 8,000 employees as Portugal’s largest airline. It is strongly represented on the routes to Brazil, but also to all of South America and Africa. During Corona pandemic, the airline had recorded record losses of 1.2 (2020) and 1.6 billion euros (2021). In the past three years, however, the company wrote blacks. In 2024 there was a net profit of 54 million euros.

Tap has a moving past

Tap had already been privatized in 2015 despite protests and strikes. In the course of Coronabede and other problems, the state took control of the stumbling airline again five years later. The then incumbent left government initiated a comprehensive restructuring and soon announced the new privatization of the company.

The conservative government now wants to realize the long -delayed project, which had recently been stalled due to two new parliamentary elections in 2024 and 2025. With the decision of the Council of Ministers to privatize 49.9 percent of capital, it is ensured that “our airline preserves the air turntop in Lisbon and the use of all airport infrastructures in the country is guaranteed,” emphasized Montenegro.