Portugal’s Decisions on Saving TAP Airline May Come in June

The Portuguese government may make decisions in June about saving carrier TAP SGPS SA, which had to suspend most of its operations due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Airlines around the world have been struggling to stay afloat after the coronavirus punctured a decades-long aviation boom. Germany on Monday offered Deutsche Lufthansa AG a package of loans and equity investment.

Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos said on May 19 that Portugal won’t let TAP collapse, and the government has repeatedly said it won’t exclude any instruments it can use to intervene. Secretary of State for Treasury Alvaro Novo said on May 13 that the government may have a decision in the middle of June about a possible cash injection.

TAP asked the government for aid after the pandemic brought its business to an almost complete halt, making the airline go through the “most delicate moment in its 75-year existence,” Chairman Miguel Frasquilho said in April.

The Portuguese government already controls 50% of TAP. Airline entrepreneur David Neeleman and Portuguese investor Humberto Pedrosa own 45% of TAP through the Atlantic Gateway venture.