Porto, Portugal, July 11, 2025 (Lusa) - The Porto business association (ACP-CCIP) in northern Portugal, said on Friday that the government should reprivatise the whole of flag carrier TAP immediately, because waiting any longer could mean more public money going into an airline that does not serve the Portuguese people.
"Although the sale of the remaining capital is planned for the future, the ACP-CCIP is very concerned that there is no timeframe for this operation to take place. In addition to the lack of a timetable, the sale of a minority stake could jeopardise the success of the operation," said the president of the ACP-CCIP, quoted in a statement.
For Nuno Botelho, TAP does not serve the interests of the Portuguese people and is a drain on public funds.
"Dividing the sale of TAP into two phases means subjecting the entire process to a series of economic, operational and, above all, political uncertainties, with the risk that everything will fall apart," he said.
In his opinion, it is unsustainable for the country to continue spending resources it does not have on a company that has long since ceased to defend the national interest.
He added: "The money belongs to everyone, but TAP belongs to only a few. How many Portuguese people pay for TAP without ever having set foot on one of its planes?".
Nuno Botelho believes that the operation is unlikely to recover the money that taxpayers have already put into TAP, which makes its sale even more urgent.
"In a country with so many structural needs, particularly in mobility infrastructure, and with so few resources, it is time for the State to allocate the money that belongs to all of us to projects of real value. TAP is clearly not one of those projects," he concluded.
On Thursday, the government approved the decree-law that begins the process of privatising TAP, in which it intends to sell up to 49% of the airline's capital.
The approval of the decree-law by the Cabinet was the first step towards the sale of TAP, which will once again have private shareholders after the government moved to nationalise it in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic on air transport.
The reprivatisation of the airline has been on the table since 2023, but was interrupted with the fall of the last two PS and PSD governments.
Originally state-owned, TAP was partially privatised in 2015, but the process was reversed in 2016 by the government of António Costa, which took back 50% of the company.
Last year, Luís Montenegro's executive returned to the issue and expressed its intention to proceed with the sale of a minority stake in 2025. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing with major European groups such as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG.
SVF/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
