The government and the Prime Minister, along with Minister Miguel Pinto Luz, appear to be attempting to sell TAP at a minimal price, lacking the understanding that what the PS Secretary-General has emphasized is the need to maximize Portuguese investment efforts,” criticized PS parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias in a statement at the parliament.
Brilhante Dias believes this investment maximization should respect “the communities, the Lisbon hub, and the strategic importance for Portugal to have an airline.”
“Minister [Pinto Luz] is known for selling 60% of TAP for 10 million euros with public guarantees during an administration that lasted only 20 days, causing severe and significant loss to Portugal,” he accused.
He also criticized Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s statements that “TAP cannot be a bottomless pit.”
“With a sense of state responsibility, the government and the Republic must maximize the invested funds that have protected TAP and ensured its survival. The government acts like a seller degrading the product it wants to sell. The Portuguese people did not deserve this,” he asserted.
The approval of the decree-law by the Council of Ministers marks the first step in the sale of TAP, which will return to having private shareholders after the government nationalized it in 2020 due to the pandemic’s impact on air transport.
The reprivatization of the airline has been under discussion since 2023 but was halted with the fall of the last two PS and PSD governments.
Originally state-owned, TAP was partially privatized in 2015, but the process was reversed in 2016 by António Costa’s government, which resumed 50% ownership.
Last year, Luís Montenegro’s administration revived the discussion, expressing intent to proceed with the sale of a minority stake in 2025. Negotiations have since been ongoing with major European groups such as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG.
