Portugal on Thursday asked Air France-KLM and Lufthansa to make binding offers to buy a controlling stake in TAP Air Portugal, as the government seeks to privatise an airline it rescued during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese government announced last September that it was seeking a major international airline to buy most of the 49.9 percent stake that it plans to privatise.<\/p>\n
Air France-KLM and Lufthansa both submitted non-binding offers this month, and Portugal’s government now wants them to submit binding bids within three months.<\/p>\n
“Two of the three big European airline groups… are in the running, which demonstrates the attractiveness of the company as well as the country,” said Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.<\/p>\n
IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, had earlier expressed an interest in taking a stake but did not make a bid.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz, who is in charge of the privatisation of TAP, said a final decision could be made in August or early September.<\/p>\n
TAP,which was renationalised in 2020 to stem losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, is among the few remaining state-owned carriers in Europe.<\/p>\n
International airlines are circling around TAP primarily because of its routes to Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa.<\/p>\n
“Thanks to its ideal geographical position, Lisbon would become the group’s unique southern European hub,” Air France-KLM said earlier this month, adding that it would offer “extensive connectivity” to the Americas and Africa.<\/p>\n
The airline has around 7,700 employees and a fleet or around 100 Airbus planes.<\/p>\n
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