Chancellor Friedrich Merz intends to support Lufthansa in its planned expansion into Portugal. 'Portugal is growing in the aviation sector', the CDU leader stated on Tuesday in Berlin during a joint appearance with Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. Merz noted that he sees significant opportunities for both parties through a collaboration between Lufthansa and the Portuguese carrier TAP.

Lufthansa recently submitted a non-binding offer for its rival, initially targeting a minority stake. According to Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, TAP is a strong fit to bolster the group's network, particularly as a hub for connections to Brazil. Portugal intends to partially re-privatize the airline, which was nationalized during the 2020 pandemic crisis. The government in Lisbon had previously announced its intention to sell a 44.9 percent stake. Analysts have previously valued this stake at approximately 700 million euros.

(Reporting by Christian Krämer. Editing by Hans Busemann. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for corporate and markets).)