GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, São Paulo Congonhas) has once more tossed its hat into the circle apropos Lisbon's privatization of TAP Portugal (Lisbon). Sources inform Portugal's Publico newspaper that the Brazilian carrier, a contender in the failed 2012 privatization process, has already made inquiries to government over its sale of a 61% stake in TAP.
Other contenders that have reportedly expressed an interest in TAP include Air Europa parent, Globalia Corporacion, Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, and British Airways and Iberia parent, the International Airlines Group (IAG). An unspecified Chinese investor was also reported to have requested information on the plan but has not pursued the project any further. Surprisingly, no Middle Eastern operators have expressed any interest thus far.
Government has said it would prefer to sell the stake to a strategic investor, in this case one that is already connected to the aviation sector and one that would maintain TAP's Lisbon hub operations while offering group synergies as well as network complementarity.
With Lisbon now unable to provide it with funds and with Portuguese bank-backed loans difficult to secure, TAP has begun to consolidate its finances ahead of the process's initiation. The task may prove difficult given that in addition to EUR100 million (USD124 million) still stuck in Venezuela, TAP also has EUR25million (USD31.04million) locked up in Angola.
In a bid to cut costs, TAP has frozen a number of projects, among them its PGA Portugalia Airlines (Lisbon) subsidiary's fleet renewal programme. Earlier this year, TAP announced plans to begin replacing Portugalia's fleet of six Fokker 100s with E190s as early as next year. Ambitur, however, reports that plan has now been put under review until TAP's privatization has been finalized.
