Portugal relaunches TAP airline privatisation, aims to sell 49.9%

By Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal relaunched the long-delayed privatisation of flag carrier TAP on Thursday, with Prime Minister Luis Montenegro saying the government aimed to sell 49.9% including a 5% stake to be offered to employees.

The airline's privatisation has already attracted interest from the three major European airlines - Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and British Airways owner IAG — which have held meetings with the government over the past year.

Air France-KLM reiterated its interest, saying in a statement it "will participate in this process once all details are released".

IAG was more ambiguous: "As we have previously stated, IAG looks forward to reviewing the terms of the potential sale of TAP and will carefully consider all details and conditions of the process as soon as they are made available".

Lufthansa declined to comment.

"We are convinced that there will be many interested parties," Montenegro said. By choosing a strategic partner, the government "wants to ensure the company's sustainability and profitability, and to be able to contribute to the country's economic development", he said.

"We took this decision (to privatise) because we've already spent a lot of money ... We don't want to continue pouring money into a bottomless pit," Montenegro said in a brief televised statement.

TAP's most attractive assets are its key slots to Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African countries, and the United States from its Lisbon hub, which the government wants to maintain and even grow.

Montenegro also said that TAP is crucial for Portugal as it flies in the bulk of air travellers, supporting the tourism boom the country has experienced in recent years.

TAP made a record 1.6 billion euro ($1.87 billion) loss in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to an extensive restructuring and a 3.2-billion-euro bailout by the state, but returned to the black in the last three years.

In 2024, TAP, which employs around 8,000 people, transported more than 16 million passengers with its main fleet of 99 aircraft and the 19 aircraft of its subsidiary TAP Express, which focuses on short and medium-haul flights.

TAP has long been earmarked for privatisation, but the process stalled again when the centre-right minority government collapsed in March.

The coalition returned to power after a national election in May, still well short of a majority in parliament, which could block the sale of TAP.

($1 = 0.8557 euros)

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Susan Fenton)