Lisbon, Sep. 9, 2025 (Lusa) - The Air France-KLM Group continues to monitor the TAP privatisation process closely and is awaiting the publication of the specifications.

Asked by Lusa about the state of play of the process and whether the reprivatisation timetable is feasible, the group replied that it ‘continues to closely monitor the process’ and ‘takes note of the approval of the specifications for this operation’ last Friday.

‘At this stage, the Group once again reiterates its interest in the privatisation process,’ said the company.

The publication of the specifications in the Diário da República, which is expected shortly, will define the technical, legal, and administrative conditions of the sale, as well as the qualification criteria for acquiring up to 49.9% of the company's capital.

The process will be conducted in four stages: pre-qualification (up to 60 days), non-binding proposals (up to 90 days), binding proposals (up to 90 days) and possible negotiation. The government expects to complete all the phases in around a year, although the timetable depends on regulatory authorisations.

Interest in the reprivatisation has also been expressed by Lufthansa and IAG - owner of British Airways and Iberia - who are also waiting for the publication of the specifications to assess the next steps.

In addition to TAP, the operation includes companies such as Portugália, the TAP Healthcare Unit, Cateringpor (51% owned by TAP) and SPdH, formerly Groundforce.

TAP was already partially privatised in 2015, but the process was reversed in 2016 by António Costa's government, which took back half of the capital. In 2020, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state took full control of the company.

SCR/ADB // ADB.

Lusa