It seems that International Airlines Group (The combined British Airways/Iberia entity) is sniffing around carriers at the moment.
And its nose is leading towards TAP Portugal according to The Sunday Times.
The Sunday Times cites informal talks have been held.
As a state owned enterprise, The Portuguese government is being forced to sell various national companies as part of the European Union and International Monetary Fund bail out – TAP Portugal being one of them.
If a purchase by IAG is made, this would mark an exit for TAP from Star Alliance and an entry into OneWorld – loosing an important Transatlantic link to South America for Star Alliance members.
As such, TAM (which itself is in a paused takeover point with LAN) is sniffing around TAP to bolster it’s TATL services and network.
Consolidation through the aviation industry isn’t a nicety – it’s a fact. As the usual white knight isn’t around (Lufthansa) as it’s dealing with it’s own collection of basket case airlines, it looks like other knights are stepping into the ring.
Expect lots of dancing.. or maybe TAP Dancing in the future weeks and months to come…..
