Asked during the 48th Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel Agencies (APAVT), in Porto, whether from the point of view of companies interested in buying TAP the lack of definition regarding the future of the airport solution in Lisbon was not an obstacle, replied Luís Rodrigues replied: “It’s a conditioner, but that’s reflected in the price.”
In other words, the state might have to sell TAP at a lower value than it would if a strategic plan for national airports were drawn up, the president of APAVT and the airline’s executive president (CEO) concluded.
“Any operator who wants to buy [a TAP] will say: if from tomorrow there were a free airport infrastructure with room for growth or room to maneuver, the amount I would pay would be this, because my growth process was one. If this is not the case, it will be reflected in what can be predicted,” he reflected.
The privatization of TAP and the decision on Lisbon’s new airport, promised for next year, are two of the government’s most important files that will be delayed due to the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa.
However, despite the situation, Luís Rodrigues states that foreign operators who are potential candidates for the privatization of the company maintain their interest in the process, despite the postponement of strategic decisions due to the political crisis.
“The interest in foreign operators is still there. Just yesterday [sexta-feira] I spoke to one of them and he said to me: ‘we have a vested interest in it, we understand that this is a political process that gets its way, and that is not the reason for it. And that is why you are doing a good job, the results are visible, keep going,” Luís Rodrigues reported at the 48th APAVT Congress, which ends today in Porto.
The CEO also reaffirmed the importance of privatizing the flagship airline.
“Pragmatically speaking, it is unthinkable that an aviation company operating in a competitive global market would be conditioned by a shareholder, in this case the state shareholder. The most obvious and historically easy way to do this is to privatize it. I won’t go into it. [a percentagem]. “It means that the land should be privatized and the state, given the strategic importance it has for the country, should have oversight,” he said.
The responsible person gave an example of some everyday situations that limit management actions with potential benefit.
‘A very common practice in the industry, which is very sensible, is to protect and buy fuel for the future when it is cheap [‘hedging’]. I can’t do that today, because I am a company in the state’s business sector, without an approved budget for 2024. I would have liked to buy it in the summer, when the fuel price was at a lower level. I can’t commit. until a future edition. That’s why I can’t buy fuel now, only if I have an approved budget,” he explained.
Hence If for some reason it is not possible to privatize TAP, rules should be created that allow the company to be managed without the administrative obstacles to which it is exposed in the current framework.
“This includes things like submitting anything with a value of more than five million euros to the Court of Auditors. Five million euros is something we do almost every day. Only when purchasing fuel is that what it is,” he pointed out.
“I don’t criticize the system. The system is what it is, and whoever wants to redesign it the way he or she wants. What I am saying is that an option should be created whereby companies operating in a competitive international market, such as the If that is the case, privatize it,” he concluded.
Source: DN
