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“If we can make TAP recover and generate long-term income, it will also bring income to all Portuguese,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the public session to present the strategic plan for the Port of Sines, in the Setúbal district.
According to the minister, “TAP belongs to the Portuguese people for better and for worse and because it is understood that it is too important for our economy to drop.”
“A political option was made to try to save a company that is very important for our development. This obviously has costs, it is not the only sector that is bad, unfortunately,” he said. The minister recalled that, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the country is “being penalized” not only from a health point of view, but in all sectors of economic activity.
“This pandemic had consequences, first, from the health point of view, and from the economic point of view and the aviation sector, among all, is the most affected. So it’s natural, the planes stopped flying and the cost structure remained, “he said.
Asked about the possible sale of planes and layoffs at TAP, the government official referred to the conclusion of the restructuring plan of the company that “will define the reduction that must be made” and how far “it will have to go in terms of costs in the and labor costs “.
“This is a job that is being done. It will not be easy, we cannot get our hopes up. We want to ensure the airline that is very important for a peripheral country in the European framework, with a great connection to the Atlantic, with communities around the world “. , but obviously, we cannot maintain a high dimension of TAP at any cost and that is why this work is being done with great caution ”, he emphasized.
TAP SA recorded a loss of 582 million euros in the first half, which compares with a negative net result of 112 million in the same period of 2019.
In a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, SA (TAP) reported on the consolidated results of the first half of the year, whose operation and results were “significantly impacted by the drop in activity at March “, given the covid-19 pandemic, the company points out.
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