Lufthansa Group beats Air France-KLM to a 44.9% stake in TAP Air Portugal

The Portuguese government has selected Lufthansa Group as the winning bidder in the privatisation of TAP Air Portugal, choosing its offer over a rival bid from Air France-KLM. Lufthansa Group confirmed the decision in a press release published on 14 October 2026, welcomed the government’s selection, and said it expects to finalise and sign the transaction documents with the state holding company Parpública “shortly”, subject to regulatory approval.

Under the terms disclosed so far, Lufthansa’s initial acquisition is a non-controlling 44.9% stake, priced at €1.025 billion. That figure could rise to €1.2 billion for a 49.9% stake, once up to 5% of shares reserved for TAP employees and a ticking fee are factored in. The Portuguese state retains majority control, at 50.1%. Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said Lufthansa’s offer was 16% higher than the rival bid, though neither the government nor the company has disclosed Air France-KLM’s exact figure. According to Portugal’s selection criteria, bidders were evaluated on more than price alone, including commitments on TAP’s national identity, Lisbon’s role as a hub, and skilled employment: Lufthansa’s case was reportedly strengthened by its Lufthansa Technik maintenance facility already under construction in northern Portugal, expected to create up to 700 jobs when it opens in 2028.

The competitive context is notable in its own right. Air France-KLM’s rival offer, combining cash and shares, had the public backing of Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, who had pledged to open codeshare and loyalty talks between Delta and TAP had the Franco-Dutch group won – and reportedly promised to make Lisbon Air France-KLM’s sole Southern European hub. Losing the bid is a setback for what would have been, in effect, a SkyTeam-aligned extension of TAP’s network; Lufthansa’s win instead keeps TAP within reach of Star Alliance, of which it is already a member.

Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr called TAP “a strong and profitable airline” and a long-standing Star Alliance partner, framing the deal as consistent with Lufthansa Group’s internationalisation strategy and its ambitions in the South Atlantic market. The commercial rationale is concrete: TAP flies nonstop to 14 Brazilian cities, with a 15th route launching this month, plus connections to Angola, Cape Verde, Senegal and Mozambique, a network of secondary Lusophone markets that no other European carrier serves nonstop from a single hub, and one that Lufthansa Group does not currently have. TAP’s Star Alliance membership does not currently extend to the transatlantic joint venture that Lufthansa Group runs with United Airlines and Air Canada. Folding TAP into that structure would require a separate antitrust review, and neither side has said whether that is the intention.

The deal is the third expansion or governance story from Lufthansa Group in six weeks, following the announcement of a significantly expanded Japan network via Nagoya (6 October 2026) and the rebrand of its Miles & More loyalty programme to “Lufthansa Group Miles & More” (announced in July, rolling out through year-end). None of the three stories centres on a single executive or celebrity figure. All three read, instead, as pieces of the same coordinated European and global network consolidation strategy