Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTAP Airlines targets growth in Brazil and Africa, focusing on strategic routes and privatization to enhance global competitiveness.
By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's soon-to-be-privatised airline TAP is well-positioned to tap into strong growth potential in Brazil and Africa, Chief Executive Luis Rodrigues said on Wednesday.
The airline operates routes to 13 Brazilian cities and 14 destinations in Africa, including Portuguese-speaking countries such as Angola and Mozambique.
"We are fortunate to be well-positioned to tackle both of them (Brazil and Africa)," he said at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon.
"Brazil is a promising country, and there's still a huge opportunity there," he added, pointing to data showing tourism in Brazil only representing about 6% of gross domestic product, while in Portugal it accounts for about 16%.
"In a country that is 20 times as big as Portugal, the opportunity is huge," Rodrigues said, adding though that while "Africa is bigger than that", countries there still had more structural constraints.
According to the CEO, TAP has "a good geographical balance" between North America, South America, Europe, and Africa, which allows for flexibility because "not all routes look good or bad at the same time".
He also saw good prospects for TAP to grow in non-passenger businesses, such as maintenance and engineering.
Portugal relaunched the long-delayed privatisation of TAP in July, aiming to sell a 44.9% stake to an airline that could bring global scale and competitiveness, with an additional 5% to be offered to TAP employees.
"The time of (TAP) being proudly alone is gone, there was a time when it was possible, but not anymore and I'd be happy to be integrated into a larger group," Rodrigues said.
The government wants the new partner, which will take over TAP's day-to-day management, to strengthen the airline's position as a global operator.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
An emerging market is a country that has some characteristics of a developed market but does not meet all the standards to be considered fully developed, often featuring rapid economic growth and industrialization.
The airline industry encompasses companies that provide air transport services for passengers and cargo, including airlines, airports, and related services, playing a crucial role in global connectivity.
Investment refers to the allocation of resources, usually money, in order to generate income or profit, often involving the purchase of assets such as stocks, bonds, or real estate.
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