Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Submit Final Bids for 44.9% of TAP

Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group both submitted final offers on 30 September for a 44.9% stake in TAP Air Portugal, setting up a decision by the Portuguese government that is expected within weeks.

What Is on Offer

The stake is the portion of TAP being sold to a strategic investor. Portugal’s government will keep 50.1%, and 5% is reserved for employees. The bids exceeded EUR 1 billion (about US$1.17 billion), which implies a valuation for the whole airline above EUR 2 billion.

IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, was initially qualified to take part but withdrew before the process reached binding offers, preferring to concentrate on its own brands. That left a two-way contest between the two largest European network groups still bidding.

TAP was brought into state ownership during the Covid crisis in 2020, and the current sale is the latest attempt to return it to private hands. In the earlier phase of the process, in early April, both groups lodged non-binding offers; the state holding company running the sale then invited selected bidders to submit binding proposals.

The Two Pitches

Air France-KLM has proposed making Lisbon its only hub in southern Europe, building on TAP’s strength on routes to the Americas and Africa, including Brazil, and on its North Atlantic connectivity. It has promised to preserve TAP’s Portuguese identity while integrating the airline into the group’s commercial organisation alongside Air France, KLM and Transavia.

Lufthansa points to its record of running several network airlines while allowing each to keep its own brand and hub. It has presented TAP as another carrier that would keep a separate identity under that approach.

What Happens Next

The government expects to announce its preferred investor by mid-October. Under the timeline reported, the winning group would enter TAP’s capital in 2027, after regulatory clearance. Because the stake is a minority holding, the successful bidder will not control the airline outright.

For the two bidders the stakes are strategic. Both groups want a stronger position on the South Atlantic, where Lisbon’s geographic location and TAP’s Brazilian network are valuable, and both are looking to add traffic feed to their own long-haul systems. Winning TAP would also deny a rival the same position.

Both groups have framed their offers around keeping TAP’s brand and its Lisbon base, according to published summaries of their proposals.

Until the government makes its choice, TAP continues to operate independently.