Lisbon, April 9, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's flag carrier, TAP, reported a profit of €4.1 million in 2025, a 92.36% decrease compared to the previous year, a result the company attributed to the adjustment of corporation tax rates, it was announced on Thursday.
In 2024, the Portuguese airline posted a net profit of €53.7 million.
Last year, “TAP Air Portugal recorded a net profit of €4.1 million. Recurring net profit would have been €46 million had we excluded the impact of the update to corporate tax rates,” reads the TAP statement.
Operating revenue, meanwhile, totalled €4.313 billion, an increase of 1.2% compared to 2024, driven by ticket revenue (+0.8%) and the maintenance business (+10.7%).
Recurring operating costs, meanwhile, stood at €4.07 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.
Notable increases were seen in traffic costs (6.7%), staff costs (7.9%) and depreciation and amortisation (10.8%), which were partially offset by a reduction (-5.4%) in fuel costs.
TAP carried 16.7 million passengers in 2025, an increase of 3.4%.
As at 31 December 2025, TAP had a cash balance of €765.3 million, €113.7 million higher than the figure for the same period in 2024.
In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, TAP recorded a loss of €51 million, due largely to an external factor – a corporate tax adjustment of €42 million, “resulting from the revaluation of deferred tax assets following the progressive reduction in the corporate tax rate”.
In this period, recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at €151 million, an increase of €31.7 million compared to the same quarter of 2024.
“In 2025, TAP delivered solid results, supported by resilient demand for tickets across the network, particularly in the second half of the year, and by a significant contribution from the maintenance business, which continued to increase its share of total revenue,” said CEO Luís Rodrigues.
The CEO said that, despite inflationary pressures on costs and supply chain constraints, it was possible to strengthen the company’s financial position, noting that this was the fourth consecutive year in which TAP had recorded a profit.
For 2026, the strategy is based on “disciplined and sustainable growth”, with the expansion of the fleet modernisation programme to include Airbus NEO aircraft.
The airline noted that growth is expected to be driven primarily by the transatlantic network and the expansion of operations from Porto.
The process of the partial sale of TAP, relaunched by the government in 2025, now has two candidates – the Air France-KLM and Lufthansa groups – following the withdrawal of International Airlines Group (IAG).
The privatisation is at a decisive stage, with bidders being asked to submit final proposals setting out their financial and strategic terms.
The final decision will also involve a series of formal steps, including approval by the Cabinet and obtaining a green light from the European competition authorities, in a process that the government aims to conclude by the summer.
The minister for infrastructure said that the government is awaiting the technical evaluation of the bids for TAP, emphasising that both offers are under review and refusing to prejudge the outcome.
In parliament, Miguel Pinto Luz also said that privatisation could go ahead even with just one bidder in the final stage, provided the state’s interests are safeguarded.
However, he stressed that he considered it “premature” to draw conclusions about the non-binding proposals and refused to speculate on the outcome of the tender.
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