TAP is officially up for sale once again. Luís Montenegro revealed that the government approved the privatization of up to 49.9% of the Portuguese airline's capital in the Council of Ministers, with a portion to be allocated to employees. The prime minister believes there will be interested parties, but admits that the process could fall through if the proposals do not meet the government's objectives.

In a statement in São Bento, without the right to questions from journalists, Montenegro says that the approved decree-law gives"the starting signal" for the privatization of TAP "incorporates the opening of capital to one investor, or more, of 44.9% of the capital [of the Portuguese airline] and 5% [for] the workers".

It will be up to the Ministers of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, and Finance, Miranda Sarmento, to provide further details about the privatization process, particularly some of the specifications that will be included in the specifications. However, Montenegro did leave some clues, notably that one of the obligations is to maintain the hub in Lisbon.

"This is an objective that we believe our airline will safeguard the hub in Lisbon, safeguard the use of all the country's airport infrastructure, in particular today's Humberto Delgado Airport and tomorrow's Luís de Camões Airport," he said.

Recalling that the Government is"fulfilling what is written in the Electoral Program and the Government Program," Montenegro advocates the privatization of the company's capital. He says it is important to"open up capital to groups that can safeguard the competitiveness and sustainability of [TAP's] operations."

The Government seeks to ensure that TAP "is profitable, well managed, and is part of a group so that it is competitive."

Several groups have expressed interest in acquiring a stake in the Portuguese airline, including IAG, Air France-KLM, and Lufthansa. Montenegro says the government is"convinced there will be many interested parties," and the investor or investors will be selected based on several criteria.

The Executive proposes to evaluate the proposals received by TAP"from a financial, technical and strategic point of view, the proposals that were presented", leaving open the possibility of not selling