Government Set to Name Winning Bidder for TAP Airline
The government is set to announce the winning bidder for a minority stake of up to 49.9% in national airline TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses), choosing between Germany's Lufthansa and Air France-KLM. Lufthansa is widely considered the favourite following an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers (Conselho de Ministros). The winning bidder will enter final negotiations before submitting the transaction for European regulatory approval.
Update: Government Selects Lufthansa for 49.9% Stake in TAP
The Portuguese government selected Germany's Lufthansa Group to acquire up to 49.9% of TAP for €1.201 billion, with the transaction expected to conclude by early 2028. Lufthansa will take responsibility for operational management while maintaining flight connections between Portugal and Brazil. The Civil Aviation Pilots' Union (Sindicato dos Pilotos da Aviação Civil or SPAC) welcomed the decision, while opposition parties cautioned against opening a path toward complete privatization.
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal’s flag-carrier airline, founded on 14 March 1945 as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses. It began operations in 1946 with Lisbon–Madrid and quickly opened the long “Linha Aérea Imperial” to Angola and Mozambique, symbolically linking mainland Portugal to its overseas territories. TAP entered the jet age in the 1960s, became Europe’s first all‑jet airline in 1967, and rebranded as TAP Air Portugal in 1979. Nationalised after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, it went through cycles of partial privatisation and renationalisation, remaining a strategic state‑controlled company due to its role in connectivity, tourism, exports, and the Portuguese diaspora, especially to Brazil, Africa, and North America. Today TAP operates an all‑Airbus fleet from its Lisbon hub, marketing itself as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Americas and as a key economic and symbolic asset for Portugal.
The Council of Ministers (Conselho de Ministros) is Portugal’s national cabinet where the prime minister and ministers meet to approve government decisions, laws and emergency measures. In crises it can decide on declarations such as a state of calamity and the measures that follow; those decisions are then published in the Diário da República. Residents should note that a Council declaration can unlock national aid, resources and civil protection support for affected municipalities.
