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Order HereThe Portuguese government has sold its 61% stake in TAP Portugalto the Gateway consortium, a joint venture (JV) between JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barranquiro Group.
The transaction, which still needs to be approved by the European Commission, finalizes a long-planned privatization process for the loss-making TAP Portugal.
TAP Portugal’s press office was not immediately available for comment.
Several media outlets quoted the Portuguese Secretary of the Treasury during a Thursday press conference in Lisbon as saying that the sale should generate between €354 million ($488 million) and €488 million and it may take up to two years to realize the full value of the transaction.
The TAP Group has an estimated total debt of $1.4 billion as well as a provisional valuation for government’s remaining 34% stake. Once the privatization process is completed, Lisbon may exit the TAP Group completely after 2017.
According to several media reports, Gateway offered to invest in 53 new aircraft for TAP, to keep the TAP head office in Lisbon for a least 10 years, and have secured TAP’s hub operations in Lisbon for the next 30 years.
ATW understands that Star Alliance member TAP Portugal, together with Azul, could open up new opportunities for the alliance.
Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab told ATW at this week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Miami that the alliance has always been interested in having two partners in Brazil because it is a huge market.
“Both carriers, Azul and Avianca Brazil, would offer a very complementary coverage in Brazil,” Schwab said, declining to give more details about an Azul membership.
Azul Brazilian Airlines began long-haul services from its hub at São Paulo’s Viracopos/Campinas International Airport (VCP) to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Dec. 2 last year, followed by daily services to Orlando.
Avianca Brazil will join Star Alliance in the second part of July.
TAP’s other two bidders were Avianca Holdings chairman German Efromovich and Portuguese investor/entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral.
TAP Portugal reported a 2014 loss of €46 million, reversed from a net profit of €34 million in 2013. This was the Portugal flag carrier’s first loss after five consecutive years of profit.
A 10-day pilot strike by TAP pilots was estimated to have cost some €35 million, several media outlets have reported.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
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Order HereThe Portuguese government has sold its 61% stake in TAP Portugalto the Gateway consortium, a joint venture (JV) between JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barranquiro Group.
The transaction, which still needs to be approved by the European Commission, finalizes a long-planned privatization process for the loss-making TAP Portugal.
TAP Portugal’s press office was not immediately available for comment.
Several media outlets quoted the Portuguese Secretary of the Treasury during a Thursday press conference in Lisbon as saying that the sale should generate between €354 million ($488 million) and €488 million and it may take up to two years to realize the full value of the transaction.
The TAP Group has an estimated total debt of $1.4 billion as well as a provisional valuation for government’s remaining 34% stake. Once the privatization process is completed, Lisbon may exit the TAP Group completely after 2017.
According to several media reports, Gateway offered to invest in 53 new aircraft for TAP, to keep the TAP head office in Lisbon for a least 10 years, and have secured TAP’s hub operations in Lisbon for the next 30 years.
ATW understands that Star Alliance member TAP Portugal, together with Azul, could open up new opportunities for the alliance.
Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab told ATW at this week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Miami that the alliance has always been interested in having two partners in Brazil because it is a huge market.
“Both carriers, Azul and Avianca Brazil, would offer a very complementary coverage in Brazil,” Schwab said, declining to give more details about an Azul membership.
Azul Brazilian Airlines began long-haul services from its hub at São Paulo’s Viracopos/Campinas International Airport (VCP) to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Dec. 2 last year, followed by daily services to Orlando.
Avianca Brazil will join Star Alliance in the second part of July.
TAP’s other two bidders were Avianca Holdings chairman German Efromovich and Portuguese investor/entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral.
TAP Portugal reported a 2014 loss of €46 million, reversed from a net profit of €34 million in 2013. This was the Portugal flag carrier’s first loss after five consecutive years of profit.
A 10-day pilot strike by TAP pilots was estimated to have cost some €35 million, several media outlets have reported.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
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Order HereThe Portuguese government has sold its 61% stake in TAP Portugalto the Gateway consortium, a joint venture (JV) between JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barranquiro Group.
The transaction, which still needs to be approved by the European Commission, finalizes a long-planned privatization process for the loss-making TAP Portugal.
TAP Portugal’s press office was not immediately available for comment.
Several media outlets quoted the Portuguese Secretary of the Treasury during a Thursday press conference in Lisbon as saying that the sale should generate between €354 million ($488 million) and €488 million and it may take up to two years to realize the full value of the transaction.
The TAP Group has an estimated total debt of $1.4 billion as well as a provisional valuation for government’s remaining 34% stake. Once the privatization process is completed, Lisbon may exit the TAP Group completely after 2017.
According to several media reports, Gateway offered to invest in 53 new aircraft for TAP, to keep the TAP head office in Lisbon for a least 10 years, and have secured TAP’s hub operations in Lisbon for the next 30 years.
ATW understands that Star Alliance member TAP Portugal, together with Azul, could open up new opportunities for the alliance.
Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab told ATW at this week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Miami that the alliance has always been interested in having two partners in Brazil because it is a huge market.
“Both carriers, Azul and Avianca Brazil, would offer a very complementary coverage in Brazil,” Schwab said, declining to give more details about an Azul membership.
Azul Brazilian Airlines began long-haul services from its hub at São Paulo’s Viracopos/Campinas International Airport (VCP) to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Dec. 2 last year, followed by daily services to Orlando.
Avianca Brazil will join Star Alliance in the second part of July.
TAP’s other two bidders were Avianca Holdings chairman German Efromovich and Portuguese investor/entrepreneur Miguel Pais do Amaral.
TAP Portugal reported a 2014 loss of €46 million, reversed from a net profit of €34 million in 2013. This was the Portugal flag carrier’s first loss after five consecutive years of profit.
A 10-day pilot strike by TAP pilots was estimated to have cost some €35 million, several media outlets have reported.
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.