The Portuguese government is negotiating with Lufthansa and Air France-KLM to sell shares in TAP.

The Portuguese government will hold an additional round of negotiations with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM on the sale of a minority stake in TAP Air Portugal in order to obtain more favorable offers from both airlines. This is reported by foreign media with reference to a government representative. The state-owned holding company Parpública submitted its assessment of the proposals to the Government after the airline applications were submitted, and both groups will have the opportunity to improve the applications before the government selects one preferred participant for the final stage of negotiations. TAP airline, which received billions of euros in government aid during the pandemic, ran into problems in the first half of 2026 due to rising fuel prices and suffered losses of 99 million euros ($115 million). In December 2025, the Portuguese government invited Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and IAG SA to participate in a tender for the sale of 49.9% of TAP, including 5% of shares reserved for employees, subject to the preservation of the airline's hub in Lisbon and strategic routes. According to the requirement of the Portuguese side, the applicant's annual revenue should be at least 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion). TAP is one of the few remaining medium-sized airlines in the region available for purchase and providing reliable routes to Brazil and Africa, the United States and Canada. Air France-KLM is a European holding airline with headquarters at Charles de Gaulle Airport (near Paris). The airline is the largest in the world in terms of revenue and the third largest in terms of the number of airliners. TAP Air Portugal is a national Portuguese airline with headquarters at Lisbon Airport. The company is a member of the Star Alliance Association and provides transportation to 85 cities in 30 countries. Lufthansa is a German aviation company and the largest aircraft manufacturer in Europe. The headquarters is located in Cologne (Germany). Read our Telegram channel "Mergers and Acquisitions. AK&M». Our channel at MAX is "Mergers and Acquisitions. AK&M».