Air France-KLM outdone: Lufthansa wins bidding race for Portugal's tap

Portugal wants to partially privatize an airline that was nationalized during the Corona crisis. Lufthansa is submitting a bid for the stake, but is not the only bidder. Now the Germans get the contract.

Lufthansa can join the Portuguese airline TAP. The German airline received the contract for a share of 44.9 percent and thus prevailed against its rival Air France-KLM, as Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced. The government in Lisbon decided this in the cabinet.

Portugal wants to partially privatize the airline that was nationalized in the Corona crisis in 2020 and restarted the process in July 2025. Air France-KLM and Lufthansa submitted their final bids for the stake in September. The Portuguese government had previously asked both interested parties to make improvements. According to the government, the airline must become part of an aviation group because EU state aid rules prohibit further state aid.

Lufthansa is particularly interested in connections to Latin America, especially Brazil. The company has stated in the past that Lisbon should be strengthened as a hub and that the national identity of the airline TAP, like other subsidiaries of the group, should be preserved. TAP is also attractive because of its connections in Portuguese-speaking Africa and the USA.

At the end of June, TAP operated an active fleet of 101 aircraft serving 93 destinations worldwide: 52 in Europe, 16 in South and Central America, 14 in Africa and 11 in North America. In the first half of 2026, TAP carried 8.2 million passengers, more passengers than ever before. At the same time, operating revenue climbed by 4.3 percent to 2.04 billion euros - also a record. However, the net loss in the first half of the year widened from 70.7 million euros in the previous year to 99.2 million euros, which was mainly due to increased kerosene costs.