Lisbon, July 10, 2025 (Lusa) - The prime minister said on Thursday that the privatisation of TAP, which began today, could proceed only if the government believes that the proposals safeguard the country’s strategic interests.
“The law we have now approved allows us to suspend or even halt this process at any time and provides any necessary compensation for the parties concerned, ensuring we safeguard the interests we consider strategically relevant,” Luís Montenegro announced in a statement to journalists at the official residence in São Bento, choosing not to take questions.
The government approved on Thursday the decree-law that begins the privatisation process of TAP, in which it intends to sell up to 49% of the airline’s capital.
The prime minister said he was convinced that “there will be many interested parties” in buying part of the Portuguese airline’s share capital, and the government will evaluate those proposals “from a financial, technical and strategic point of view”.
“We believe that safeguarding the country’s strategic interests requires that the management of the Portuguese airline fit within the opening of its share capital to companies and groups that can contribute to making this operation competitive and sustainable in the international context,” Luís Montenegro emphasised.
The approval of the decree-law with the conditions for the sale of TAP marks the first step towards the sale of the airline, which will once again have private shareholders after the government's move to nationalise it in 2020 due to the pandemic's impact on air transport.
The president of Portugal must also approve the decree-law, and in October 2023, the president vetoed the document that António Costa’s government drew up to start the privatisation of TAP. At the time, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa decided to return the decree, which the cabinet approved on 28 September of that year, because it “requested further clarification and input to ensure the desired maximum transparency of the process”.
The government has kept the reprivatisation of the airline on the table since 2023, and it paused the process with the fall of the last two governments.
Since then, the airline’s financial performance has improved. In 2024, it returned to profit, but this figure declined by almost 70% compared to 2023, standing at €53.7 million.
The company’s latest accounts for the first quarter of 2025, normally the sector’s most challenging period, recorded a loss of €108.2 million, €18.1 million more than in the same period last year, placing the company back in the red. The fact that Easter fell in April this year instead of March also affected performance.
Originally state-owned, TAP was partially privatised in 2015. However, in 2016, the António Costa government reversed the process and took back 50% of the company — a decision that prompted debate regarding the financial opportunity the state had embraced.
Last year, Luís Montenegro’s government revisited the issue and expressed its intention to proceed with the sale of a minority stake in 2025. Since then, the government has been negotiating with major European groups, including Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG.
The government justifies the process as necessary to preserve Lisbon’s hub and the company’s strategic routes, while seeking to recover part of the €3.2 billion invested by the state during the pandemic as part of the restructuring plan.
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
