The president of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP) assumes himself as “a TAPista”, a defender of the national airline, in privatization, which is decisive for tourism in Portugal and that “has passed” and “holding everything”.
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26/09/2026
by
Lusa
“Declaration of interests: I am a TAPista. I'm a great advocate of TAP. TAP's been through everything. It's national, it's public, it's nationalized, it's renationalized. Hold everything. And it is crucial for tourism in Portugal. It has been decisive and has endured everything”He started by saying Francisco Calheiros.
In an interview with the Lusa Agency on the occasion of the World Tourism Day that is celebrated on Sunday, he recalled that he had preferred the privatization of TAP to be over 100% of the capital.
“ I think there are guarantees that could be in the near future”, he said, considering that “It’s very important for the buyer, in order to capture their synergies, to have a 100% TAP”.
The government announced at the beginning of September that it would start final negotiations with the two candidates who delivered binding offers for the purchase of 44.9% of TAP, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.
Asked to comment on the process and the fact that he always argued that TAP should be handed over to strategic partners for financial investors, he admitted that two very important players are on the table.
“ When they ask me which one I prefer, I have no idea, because I had to know what plans they have for TAP. Now, that they are two very serious ‘players’, both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, which I think will do TAP good, I think”, it did.
The person responsible justifies the fact that TAP is thus able to “enter a platform”.
“TAP proudly is just not possible. There are not just companies proudly from Europe and we will be placed on a platform with a purchasing power, whether from airplanes, fuel or insurance, which I think will benefit from much TAP.”, explained.
On 1 September, Parpublica submitted for analysis by the Government the report on the two binding offers for the privatisation of TAP, the process of which provides for the sale of up to 49.9% of the company's capital, of which 5% are reserved for employees, and the unsubscribed portion may be acquired by the selected investor under a preferential right.