Brussels, Oct. 8, 2026 (Lusa) - The Air France-KLM and Lufthansa aviation groups said on Thursday that they expect a decision next week from the Portuguese Government on the privatisation of the flag carrier airline TAP, whilst declining to disclose the content of their bids.
«We are awaiting a decision from the Portuguese government and should hear it next week,» said Benjamin Smith, chief executive (CEO) of the Air France-KLM group, at a press conference in Brussels attended by the five largest European airlines, which are included in the Airlines for Europe (A4E) association.
Also present at the event, Carsten Spohr, chief executive of the Lufthansa Group, declined to answer Lusa's question regarding the content of the bids or the deadlines, merely highlighting the rivalry between the two groups as he embraced Benjamin Smith.
Last week, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa submitted final, improved binding bids for the acquisition of 44.9% of TAP's share capital; the decision now rests with the Portuguese Government.
The deal also provides for 5% of the share capital to be reserved for employees, with the remainder remaining in the hands of the State, the current majority shareholder.
The privatisation is taking place at a time when European airlines are warning of growing pressure on their competitiveness, particularly due to energy costs, airport taxes and charges, and European regulation, whilst calling for greater airport capacity to keep pace with growing demand.
At this conference, themed «The competitiveness of EU airlines in a rapidly changing world», Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, also criticised the congestion at Lisbon Airport.
«There are really no capacity constraints at Lisbon Airport that could not be resolved through a reasonable expansion of the existing terminal facilities,» he suggested.
According to O'Leary, «the capacity constraints in Lisbon are entirely artificial and do not stem from a runway limitation», since «capacity could easily be increased, particularly given that terminal capacity is rising significantly».
«Fewer passengers are checking in luggage, waiting times at check-in are decreasing, and we are increasingly interested in utilising ‘slots' [take-off and landing time slots], so capacity could increase significantly,» he emphasised.
He considered that «limiting capacity at Lisbon Airport has been a way for the Portuguese Government to protect TAP from competition, particularly from effective competition from low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet, which are unable to expand their operations because they cannot obtain additional ‘slots'».
Also speaking at the press conference about congestion at the airport, Benjamin Smith of Air France-KLM drew a comparison: «Returning to the point about Lisbon airport's capacity, which is artificially limited, we have the same problem at Paris Orly».
The two airports share similarities due to environmental restrictions, movement limits and their location in densely populated urban areas, but they are subject to different management rules.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Association of European Airlines (Airlines for Europe, A4E), Ourania Georgoutsakou, called for «a review of the directive on airport charges» to ensure that revenue is used to increase capacity and improve airport efficiency.
She pointed out that slots are already utilised at very high levels – between 95% and 97% at the most congested airports – meaning that reforming the slot system alone will not create new capacity.
A4E represents Europe's 16 largest airlines, including the Portuguese carrier TAP.
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