TAP Portugal chief executive Fernando Pinto, a former chief executive of Star founder-member Varig of Brazil, says the Portuguese carrier's expansion plans as a member of Star Alliance call for one additional long-haul and one short/medium-haul aircraft to be added to the fleet each year. He expects the impending partial privatisation of TAP to be completed in "one to three years", after the full impact of joining Star has filtered through to the balance sheet. This could lead to an effective merger with regional airline Portugalia if the latter's majority shareholder, Grupo Espirito Santo, achieves its ambition of taking a large minority holding in profitable TAP, although Pinto says the pair would retain their brand identities. "We need capital and that will happen when the airline is privatised," says Pinto. All-Airbus operator TAP expects to decide on a replacement for its six A310s in about a year's time, with Pinto acknowledging that "a natural growth would be into the A330".
Source: Flight International
