ANA to consult TAP privatisation candidates on Lisbon new airport

The project to build Lisbon’s new airport has entered a consultation phase with interested parties, a process already started by ANA. Among the entities asked to comment are Air France-KLM, the IAG Group and Lufthansa, as putative candidates to acquire TAP in the privatisation process, according to a source in the sector.

After receiving the green light from the government to go ahead with the process for the future Luís de Camões airport on 17 January, the concessionaire has six months to deliver the Consultation Report to the parties interested in the new infrastructure.

The concession contract, which dates back to 2012, provides for comments to be sought from the main stakeholders in the airport sector, including the five largest air operators at Lisbon airport. According to the regulator’s latest statistics for the third quarter of 2024, these are TAP, Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling and SATA.

The list of airlines won’t stop there, however. The concessionaire has also invited the aviation groups that have already shown an interest in privatising TAP to send in their contribution, according to what ECO has heard from a source in the sector, bearing in mind that the Portuguese carrier should also be the largest company in Luís de Camões.

Air France – KLM, the IAG Group and Lufthansa are the groups that have already publicly expressed an interest in buying TAP, and have even met with the government. For now, they are waiting for the decree-law with the privatisation conditions to be approved — which should happen by the end of the quarter, according to the government — before making a final decision. Of the five largest carriers at Humberto Delgado, only Vueling is part of IAG.

ECO asked the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing about the list of organisations consulted, but it chose not to reveal them. It only replied that, “in accordance with the provisions of the Concession Contract (CC), the definition of the organisations to be consulted in the stakeholder consultation phase was carried out in conjunction with the Grantor, based on a proposal presented by the Concessionaire”.

It adds that “the main airlines, the main stakeholders in the airport sector, as well as the relevant public bodies both in this sector and in adjacent areas will be consulted”. When questioned, ANA did not release the list either.

According to what ECO has learnt, the list is long and includes entities such as the National Civil Aviation Authority, NAV – Navegação Aérea de Portugal, AIMA and the security forces. In addition to the airlines, ground handling companies will also be consulted, such as Menzies, the owner of the former Groundforce.

Consultation covers fees and configuration of new airport

The concession contract specifies that the consultation must cover the location chosen, the specifications of the infrastructure and the level of airport charges.

The concession contract defines in an annex the minimum characteristics of the future airport, such as the existence of two parallel runways of approximately 4,000 metres. In the initial report submitted to the Portuguese government, ANA points out, however, that “the airport and air transport industry has evolved significantly since the Minimum Specifications for the New Lisbon Airport were defined”, so that “various optimisations in the project should be considered”.

“ANA would like to propose to the Grantor the use of the Stakeholder Consultation to be launched at the beginning of the next stage of the NAL Application phase, to propose and discuss with the Grantor the opportunity to implement these optimisations”, he adds.

A proposal welcomed by the government, which in its response to the concessionaire expresses its “willingness to discuss the Minimum Specifications for the NAL, with a view to updating them in relation to the most recent trends in the sector, with a view to optimising them operationally and reducing the total CAPEX value of the project”.

The issue of the increase in airport taxes proposed by ANA as of next year to pre-finance the works at Luís de Camões airport, which have an estimated cost of 8.5 billion euros, promises to be more controversial. Both the Association of Airlines in Portugal and Ryanair have already expressed their opposition to charging a surcharge before the new infrastructure is up and running. The government has also expressed many doubts about the model envisaged by the concessionaire.

The specifications and the fees are, moreover, related. If the specifications are more modest, the cost will be lower and so will the fees.