“As we have already said, we are very interested in the TAP privatisation project and we await the next steps,” a company source told EFE.

The Air France-KLM source guarantees that the aviation group has not given up on the purchase of the national air carrier, denying recent news that the deal was being abandoned due to political instability in Portugal.

The TAP privatisation process was suspended due to the call for early elections, due to the fall of the XXIII Constitutional Government, following the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa.

However, the new government's program, led by Luís Montenegro, foresees that the “privatisation process of TAP's share capital” will be relaunched.

In addition to Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and the IAG Group, which owns British Airways and Iberia, also expressed interest in acquiring TAP.