Portugal reiterates plan to privatize state-owned airline TAP

Portugal’s government reaffirmed it plans to privatize state-owned airline TAP SA, adding that the terms of the sale are still to be defined.

“This is a phase of discretion, a phase of evaluations, consultations, definition of models and in due time we will bring to light our vision” for TAP, Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said at a parliamentary hearing in Lisbon on Wednesday. “We’re worried but we also believe that the market today has the necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of liquidity, in terms of market dynamics for us to proceed.”

Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and IAG SA, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, have said they may be interested in TAP. The Lisbon-based airline’s biggest attraction lies in its links to Brazil, of which it’s the biggest European provider. It also maintains a strong presence in Africa and operates a number of flights to North America.

The previous government said in September that it aimed to sell at least 51% of TAP. Pinto Luz on Wednesday declined to provide details about the terms of the airline’s privatization.

“We won’t discuss beforehand what we haven’t yet defined,” Pinto Luz said.