On the final day of the government-set deadline, both bidders provided commitments aligned with the strategic plan, expressly guaranteeing the maintenance and central role of the airline’s hub at Lisbon Airport, as well as the strengthening of the country’s international connectivity.

For the Lufthansa Group, the plan entails establishing a long-term partnership that strengthens Lisbon’s position as a gateway to the South Atlantic and expands connections to North America, Latin America, and Africa.

The German group’s CEO, Carsten Spohr, highlighted the track record of integration while preserving national identity seen with airlines such as SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and ITA Airways.

The German proposal is further underpinned by the group’s ongoing industrial presence in Portugal, where it currently employs over 500 people and plans to create more than a thousand jobs by 2030 through the new Lufthansa Technik facility in Santa Maria da Feira.

For its part, Air France-KLM presented a comprehensive plan covering passenger transport, cargo, loyalty programs, and maintenance; it proposed establishing Lisbon as its exclusive hub in Southern Europe while also envisioning operational growth in Porto and other regions of the country.

Benjamin Smith, the Franco-Dutch group’s CEO, highlighted its transatlantic alliance with US-based Delta Air Lines as a major asset for boosting the North Atlantic market, while also planning to link TAP’s strong presence in Brazil with the network of the Brazilian carrier GOL. In the maintenance and engineering sector, the project includes the joint development of repair operations with TAP Maintenance & Engineering.

Following the receipt of proposals by the teams at Parpública, the state-owned entity managing government shareholdings, the company now has 30 days to prepare and submit its final evaluation report to the Government. This analysis will serve as the basis for the Executive’s decision-making, with a final determination regarding the winning bid in the privatisation process expected in the coming months.