"Our interest in TAP remains. We continue to study whether it makes financial sense to invest, from a network perspective, but in terms of discussions and developing negotiations with the owners of this company, it's too early to comment," said Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith during a press conference call about the Franco-Dutch group's results.

When asked about the conditions set out in the privatisation specifications, which are expected to be released next week, that would determine whether the group would decide whether or not to proceed with a proposal, Benjamin Smith said that "it's not that simple."

"This is a business decision, and it must be clear that any investment in TAP would be a path to improved margins, and that is truly the decisive factor," the executive noted.

For Air France-KLM, "whatever the conditions" of the Portuguese government and the European Commission, the interest remains if the group is confident that the deal will be beneficial.

"If that's not the case, if there's too much risk surrounding the deal, we're obviously not interested," he emphasized.

When asked about the process of acquiring a stake in the private Spanish airline Air Europa, the Franco-Dutch group said it had abandoned the deal.

"Reaching a majority position was extremely important to us, and that doesn't seem possible, so we've stopped all discussions with Air Europa," Benjamin Smith stated.

The Air France-KLM group posted a profit of €401 million in the first half of the year, compared to a negative €314 million in the same period in 2024.