The Minister of Infrastructure assured today that the Government will not “sell TAP at a bargain,” reiterating the desire for a partner that ensures the strategic interest of the country.
Miguel Pinto Luz spoke during an urgent parliamentary debate requested by Chega, following the Government’s approval on Thursday of the decree-law that initiates the process of privatizing TAP. This legislation allows for the opening of up to 49.9% of the airline’s share capital to private investors, with 5% reserved for employees.
“We will not sell TAP at a bargain, as we have previously stated and maintain what we said,” the minister affirmed, adding that the Government “has made it clear that it will not sell the company if it believes that sufficient conditions are not met,” including ensuring the company remains Portuguese.
In response to inquiries from MPs, the Minister of Infrastructure considered that “TAP will not survive if it remains public,” with the Government unable to inject any euros into the company or enable it to purchase aircraft, thus necessitating the search for “a strategic partner for those synergies.”
At the start of his intervention, Miguel Pinto Luz reminded that the decree-law approved on Thursday still requires publication and review by the President of the Republic, followed by the release of the sale’s terms of reference, considering today’s discussion “somewhat premature.”
The Government hopes to complete all four stages of the TAP’s reprivatization process within a year, although the timeline is dependent on regulatory approvals. What is the Government’s objective? What is at stake with the privatization decree-law? A guide with five questions and answers on this topic has been prepared.
Chega questioned the Government about potential Middle Eastern partners, with the minister assuring that the sale of 49.9% of TAP “also allows reaching out to the Middle East.” “[The decree-law] opens beyond Europe, opens the market, opens opportunities,” Pinto Luz asserted.
In response to the Liberal Initiative, which advocates for the complete privatization of the Portuguese airline, the minister argued that if the party’s MPs “understood how markets work, they would realize that selling a minority stake maximizes the value of the remaining shareholding.”
The approval of the decree-law in the Council of Ministers was the first step toward initiating TAP’s sale, returning it to private shareholders after the Government moved to nationalize the airline in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic on air transport.
The reprivatization of the airline has been under consideration since 2023 but was interrupted by 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 took back 50% of the company.
Last year, Luís Montenegro’s administration revisited the topic, expressing intentions to proceed with the partial sale in 2025. Negotiations have been underway with major European groups like Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG.
