BA proprietor eyes slice of Portuguese airline TAP

The owner of British Airways has joined the race to buy a stake in Portugal’s flag carrier TAP.

International Airlines Group (IAG) is the third company to express formal interest in the privatisation of TAP, joining European rivals Air France-KLM and Germany’s Lufthansa.

An IAG spokesman yesterday confirmed it had submitted a statement of interest to state-owned holding company Parpublica.

Portugal relaunched the long-delayed privatisation of TAP in July, seeking to sell a 44.9 per cent stake to a business capable of boosting the company’s global scale and competitiveness – with a further 5 per cent to be offered to employees.

TAP’s most attractive assets are its connections to Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African countries and the United States from its Lisbon hub, which the government wants to keep and expand.

The IAG spokesman said: ‘We believe TAP has significant potential within IAG.’

Showing an interest: The owner of British Airways has joined the race to buy a stake in Portugal’s flag carrier TAP

Some fear the latter’s control could mean it diverts routes from Lisbon to Madrid – the hub for IAG’s Spanish airline arm Iberia.

However, the British Airways and Aer Lingus owner said its track record shows how it invests ‘to strengthen airlines, benefiting customers, employees, local economies and shareholders’.