Lisbon, Sept. 17, 2026 (Lusa) - Brazilian airline Azul remains confident it will recover the loan it granted TAP in 2016 and insists the legal dispute preserves the two carriers' commercial partnership, a spokesperson said Thursday.

«I think that with any loan you make, you expect to get it back, which is why we are dealing with this through the courts; I have little more to add about this case,» Azul's Vice-President for Institutional and Corporate Affairs, Fábio Campos, told journalists during a ceremony marking the company's ten years of operation in Portugal, held at the official residence of the Brazilian ambassador in Lisbon.

Azul is claiming payment of €189 million related to a loan converted by the former TAP SGPS, now SIAVILO, that remains outstanding. At issue is a €90 million bond loan taken out in 2016, when David Neeleman was a shareholder in both companies.

In March this year, Azul brought legal proceedings against TAP, claiming around €189 million, at the Lisbon Central Civil Court.

According to information reported by *Observador* and confirmed by other media outlets, the debt includes interest accrued since the original loan, bringing the amount claimed to around €188.985 million.

On Tuesday, the newspaper ECO reported that the Public Prosecutor's Office ruled that the insolvency of the former TAP SGPS, now known as Siavilo, was fortuitous, rejecting Azul's argument that it was culpable.

When asked whether the Public Prosecutor's Office's decision had disappointed the company, Campos replied: «No, I think everyone has their own arguments in the proceedings, and we are awaiting a decision.» Despite the legal dispute, he said that commercial relations between the two airlines remain unaffected.

«Not at all; we remain business partners and have a very strong partnership, one that is growing ever stronger, and our partnership continues,» he said.

MIM/ADB // ADB.

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