Lufthansa Beats Air France-KLM, Set To Purchase 44.9% Stake in TAP Air Portugal

The fight over TAP Air Portugal looks like it’s about to have a winner.

Reporting from today, October 13, 2026, says that the Lufthansa Group is set to win the bidding process for a 44.9% stake in Portugal’s flag carrier, beating out rival Air France-KLM and a now-withdrawn bid from IAG, the group representing Iberia, Aer Lingus, and British Airways. Reuters picked up the report, which cites sources familiar with the matter.

Nothing is official yet. Portugal’s government is scheduled to choose a winner at an extraordinary cabinet meeting tomorrow, October 14, 2026. Here’s what we know so far.

Lufthansa Set To Buy Large Minority Stake in TAP Portugal

This development has been a long time coming. Portugal’s government relaunched its plan to privatize TAP in the summer of 2025. The goal was to sell a large minority stake in the airline. Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group emerged as the 2 serious contenders, and both submitted binding offers in late July 2026.

IAG expressed interest in January 2025 but didn’t push forward once the bidding got serious.

Over time, the Portuguese government asked both airline groups to improve their offers, and each submitted a final bid in September 2026.

According to SIC, proposed payment methods were a deciding factor. Lufthansa made an all-cash offer. Air France–KLM’s proposal mixed cash with shares in the airline group. The report also says Lufthansa’s stronger financial position played a key role in the decision.

It’s easy to see why both groups were interested. TAP’s Lisbon (LIS) hub gives it a strong position on routes to Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Its transatlantic network is a big part of its value. For the Lufthansa Group, which isn’t especially strong in South America, owning a big stake in TAP could fill a noticeable gap.

There’s also a defensive angle at play. Long-haul flying in Europe is largely dominated by 3 major airline groups: Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM, and IAG. Any time one of the few remaining independent carriers goes up for sale, keeping it out of a rival’s hands matters almost as much as the value of actually purchasing the airline.

TAP is already a Star Alliance member alongside Lufthansa and its associated airlines. However, TAP isn’t part of the transatlantic joint venture Lufthansa operates in partnership with United and Air Canada. It will be interesting to see whether Lufthansa pushes TAP to join that arrangement, as the Portuguese carrier has often been a cheaper option for flights between the U.S. and Europe. If it starts coordinating fares and schedules with other airlines, those lower fares could disappear.

Even if Portugal’s government signs off on the deal during a meeting on October 14, European regulators still need to approve the deal. That process won’t happen overnight, and the final terms could still change before everything is settled — much like we saw with Lufthansa’s deal to purchase a majority stake in Italy’s ITA Airways.

Final Thoughts

It appears that Lufthansa Group has won the bidding process for a 44.9% stake in TAP Air Portugal, largely thanks to its all-cash offer and stronger financial position when compared to the Air France-KLM group’s offer. We should know more details after Portugal’s cabinet meets on Wednesday, October 14.

For travelers, the bigger question is what this means for TAP’s fares and whether they will remain cheaper than other airlines’ on transatlantic flights.