Aviation: Lufthansa expects quick success with Tap entry

Frankfurt. Lufthansa expects quick benefits from joining Portugal's state airline Tap. The annual synergies are likely to amount to up to 450 million euros, explained Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr and CFO Till Streichert in an online conference with analysts. This sum can be achieved in the first full year after joining - and therefore before Lufthansa acquires the majority of Tap. In addition, the German group, as a minority owner, should take over operational management at Tap and decide on who fills the top position.

On Wednesday, Lufthansa was awarded a minority stake in Tap by the government in Portugal. The German aviation group thus prevailed against its French-Dutch competitor Air France-KLM, which had previously won the contract for a majority in the Scandinavian SAS.

Lufthansa will initially receive almost 45 percent of the shares in Tap for a good one billion euros. Up to 5 percent is initially reserved for Tap employees, but could also go to Lufthansa. This would increase the purchase price to 1.2 billion euros. The majority will initially be retained by the Portuguese state at around 50 percent. However, Lufthansa welcomed the government's announcement that it would begin the process of fully privatizing Tap.

Tap is particularly valuable for Lufthansa because of its connections to Latin America. Together with Tap, Lufthansa will have a market share of around 20 percent between Europe and Latin America, said Spohr. This brings it closer to British Airways parent IAG, which has a strong presence on these routes thanks to its Spanish subsidiary Iberia.

Lufthansa recently took over a minority of 41 percent in the Italian Ita and has already drawn options to increase this stake to 90 percent next year. The Lufthansa Group also includes the former state airlines of Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels. The direct airline Eurowings and the holiday airlines Discover and Edelweiss are also subsidiaries of Lufthansa.

Tap has recently posted profits for four years in a row. Spohr was pleased to acquire a profitable airline, which is an exception in the history of Lufthansa acquisitions.

In the first half of 2026, however, Tap posted a net loss of 99.2 million euros. Among other things, the increased fuel costs had a negative impact. With 8.2 million passengers, the airline transported 4.2 percent more people than the year before.