The Government invited Lufthansa and Air France-KLM to improve their proposals for the acquisition of 44.9% of TAP, in a process with a deadline of December 31. The State injected 3.2 billion euros into TAP and, although the company recorded in 2025 revenues of 4.31 billion euros, 16 million passengers carried, and profits of 4.1 million, profitability remains fragile, requiring capital, scale, and a global network to face European consolidation.
The tender specifications already require that price be evaluated together with the industrial and strategic plan, including the promotion of the TAP brand, the maintenance of its headquarters in Portugal, connections between the main national airports, the autonomous regions, the diaspora, and Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as labor commitments and maintenance engineering. Price cannot be the decisive criterion.
More than 265 million people speak Portuguese, a universe that will grow especially in Africa. Portugal can be the platform between Europe, Brazil, Africa, and Portuguese communities. In 2024, more than two million passengers traveled on TAP routes between Brazil and Europe, and 1.1 million on connections to and from Africa. In 2026, the company plans to operate 15 Brazilian destinations.
The Portuguese language is not a sentimental prop in the negotiation, but part of the economic asset at stake. The State should not only sell well, but choose who guarantees that TAP will remain connected to the Portuguese-speaking world, converting the conditions of the tender specifications into measurable contractual commitments with consequences for non-compliance.
