Portuguese Government to Inject 600 Million Euros More in TAP This Year

The Portuguese government will inject another 600 million euros into the airline TAP this year, making it the last year of extraordinary support to the company, according to the Stability Program (SP).

In the document sent by the Finance Ministry to Parliament, the government has included as total spending for TAP, which is implementing a restructuring plan approved by Brussels, €600 million for this year, up from the €641 million it injected in 2021, Portugal News Agency reported.

→ Tap Portugal to resume flights to Venezuela.

As for 2023, the PS mentions a “saving” of “600 million euros with TAP”, which means that by next year, the government expects not to need to inject capital into the airline.

On December 21, the European Commission reported that it had approved TAP’s restructuring plan and a state aid of €2.55 billion, which obliges the company to free up to 18 daily slots at Lisbon airport.

On December 30, the government announced that it had injected €536 million into TAP, through a capital increase, agreeing that throughout 2022 “new capital injections” can be made into the company, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry.

In addition, the €1.2 billion loan granted to TAP in 2020 in connection with emergency expenses was “converted into capital,” the government said.