Christmas is still more than two months away, but Southwest Airlines just told its loyalty club members about one of its gifts. The carrier today said it would make some enhancements to its Rapid Rewards program.
29.09.2023 - 01:05 / skift.com / Edward Russell / Airlines
Portugal’s Finance Minister Fernando Medina kicked off the long-awaited sale of TAP Air Portugal Thursday with the announcement that the government would sell a 51% stake in the state-owned airline to the highest bidder.
In addition to monetary value, the Portuguese government seeks an investor that wants to grow TAP and its Lisbon hub, guarantee jobs, and bring additional flights to secondary airports in the country, including Porto. The government did not specify how much it values TAP at; Portugal nationalized the airline as part of its Covid aid package to the carrier during the pandemic.
“We want large-scale investors from the aeronautical sector, alone or in consortia headed by them, that are aligned with our strategic goals,” Medina said. “We do not seek to attract pure investments of a financial nature that are looking to get into TAP to then sell it or sell parts of it and we wish to reiterate TAP’s strategic contribution to the country.”
Air France-KLM, International Airlines Group — owner of British Airways, Iberia, and other airlines — and the Lufthansa Group have all expressed interest in TAP. The Portuguese airline’s Lisbon hub is the ideally located for Europe-Latin America connections, as well as for connectivity to Africa. The hub is seen as a sought-after prize among the large European airline group’s as they jockey for an ever greater share of the market.
“TAP has a very strong position geographically at the southernmost point in Europe towards South America, and they do have a very strong network to Brazil with 11 cities online nonstop out of Lisbon,” Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said in May. “So it’s very interesting, and could be potentially eventually accretive to our bottom line performance.”
Portugal will first select advisors for the sale first with the aim to finalize the selection criteria by the end of the year, Medina. Talks with interested buyers will also begin but, based on the timeline he outlined, a deal is unlikely until sometime in 2024.
Christmas is still more than two months away, but Southwest Airlines just told its loyalty club members about one of its gifts. The carrier today said it would make some enhancements to its Rapid Rewards program.
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An underwater art exhibition, known as the ‘EDP Art Reef’ is available to visit off the coast of Portugal.
Portugal has long been a popular spot for tourists, but that demand has reached new heights. In fact, the first half of 2023 saw record foreign visitors to the country. So, it should come as no surprise that its national carrier — TAP Air Portugal — has increased its presence within the U.S. in recent years.
Travel demand to Turkey, an increasingly popular tourist destination, remains strong even as post-pandemic “revenge travel” ends, Pegasus Airlines CEO Güliz Öztürk said.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, October 12. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Less than two kilometres off Algarve’s coast of Albufeira, an exciting new underwater art exhibition has been revealed. The ‘EDP Art Reef’ project is the is the first of its kind in the country and created by the famous Portuguese Graffiti and street artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils.
Remember that scene from the film Norma Rae when Sally Field holds up a sign that simply says "Union?"
In the glare of the morning sun, the streets of downtown Faro are a textural hot mess. A faded art deco shopfront sits cheek by crumbling jowl with its neighbour’s rusting balustrades and handmade fondant tiles. A bank swerves around the corner like an ice-cream sandwich hit by pistachio light. Everywhere there are buildings you might generously describe as less art and more nouveau. These are layers of the near past – and I’m smitten.
The three largest U.S. airlines and a growing number of international carriers have suspended service to Israel, which has declared a state of war following Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,200 dead.
easyJet, Europe’s leading airline and the largest airline in Northern Ireland is celebrating 25 years of flying passengers to and from Belfast International Airport.