Portugal sells 44.9% of TAP to Lufthansa after more than €3 billion in state aid

After €3.34bn in state aid since 2020, the Portuguese state will sell 44.9% of TAP to Lufthansa for €1.025bn, retaining a 50.1% stake.

Author: Cláudia Ascensão Nunes

Published: October 23, 2026

Portugal sells 44.9% of TAP to Lufthansa after more than €3 billion in state aid

On 14 October, the Portuguese government chose the Lufthansa Group to buy 44.9% of TAP Air Portugal for €1,025 million. The amount could rise to €1,201 million if Lufthansa also takes up any of the 5% of shares reserved for employees that they do not buy, which would raise its stake to as much as 49.9%. Lufthansa’s offer was 16% higher than that of Air France-KLM [1][2].

Since 2020, the Portuguese state has injected around €3.34 billion into TAP through loans later converted into equity, pandemic-related compensation and capital increases [3]. This amount broadly corresponds to the aid approved by the European Commission under the 2021 restructuring plan.

TAP has alternated between privatisation and nationalisation. In November 2015, the government of Pedro Passos Coelho (Social Democratic Party) sold 61% of the airline to the Atlantic Gateway consortium, led by Humberto Pedrosa and David Neeleman. In 2017, the government of António Costa (Socialist Party) partly reversed the privatisation, raising the state’s stake to 50%, although the private investors kept 90% of the economic rights [4].

The Covid-19 pandemic deepened the airline’s financial difficulties, as air traffic and revenue collapsed. In July 2020, the state bought out David Neeleman and took control of 72.5% of TAP [4]. In December 2021, the European Commission approved the restructuring plan, with €3.2 billion in state aid, including the money already injected since 2020. In return, TAP had to give up 18 of its 300 slots at Lisbon airport and sell its catering and ground handling businesses [5][6]. The plan ended in June 2026, but the airline had to return €25 million to the state for missing its deadline [3].

After losses of more than €1 billion in 2020 and 2021, TAP returned to profit following the restructuring. Its net profit in 2025 was €4.1 million [3]. In the first half of 2026, it recorded a loss of €99.2 million [1].

A previous attempt to sell a majority stake, launched by the Costa government in September 2023, did not go ahead [7]. Under the deal now announced, the state will keep 50.1%, Lufthansa will hold between 44.9% and 49.9%, and up to 5% of the shares will be reserved for employees. Lufthansa will take over executive and operational management [1]. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said the government could complete the full privatisation of TAP by 2028 [8].

The deal still needs approval from the European Commission. Lufthansa’s chief executive expects clearance without major difficulties, as the two airlines compete directly on few routes [2]. In 2024, when Lufthansa bought a minority stake in Italy’s state-owned ITA Airways, giving it joint control of the airline with the Italian government, Brussels approved the deal only after an in-depth investigation and after Lufthansa agreed to give slots to competitors [9].

In Portugal, parliament will question Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz on the sale, at the request of Chega [10]. Both Chega, on the right, and the centre-left Socialist Party oppose selling the remaining 50.1% of the airline [2].

Berlin has no direct role in the deal. In September 2022, the German government sold its last shares in Lufthansa, acquired during the airline’s pandemic rescue [11].