Portugal's government has picked Lufthansa Group over Air France-KLM as the buyer for a minority stake in TAP Air Portugal. Lufthansa's bid is EUR 1.025 billion for 44.9% of the airline. Nothing is closed yet, and the loyalty-program question that matters to anyone holding TAP miles is one the announcement skips entirely.

What actually happened

On October 14, Lufthansa Group announced that the Portuguese government selected its offer in the TAP privatization process. The price on the table is EUR 1.025 billion for 44.9% of TAP. If the stake grows to 49.9%, which happens if employees take up to 5% of shares and a ticking fee kicks in, the price could rise to about EUR 1.2 billion. Air France-KLM was the other finalist and lost.

Lufthansa says it is still finalizing the transaction documents with the government and with Parpública, the state holding company, and expects to sign 'shortly.' Completion is 'subject to approval by the relevant authorities.' The release names no specific regulators and gives no closing date. In other words, this is a pick, not a done deal.

The fine print: it's a minority stake, for now

Lufthansa calls the initial purchase a minority stake. It also notes that the government has begun the process toward full privatization and that 'a majority stake creates additional benefits for all parties involved.' Read that as Lufthansa saying out loud that it wants more later. The state's remaining shares are the obvious next target.

Lufthansa also promises to preserve TAP's 'national identity.' That is a brand-and-politics sentence, and it is not a commitment about anything you can redeem.

What it means for your miles

Here is the honest part: the release does not mention Miles&More or TAP Miles&Go at all. Not once. Lufthansa does describe TAP as a 'long-standing partner in Star Alliance,' so the two already sit in the same alliance, which means the miles you earn today already work across both. What nobody has said is whether the programs get merged, whether award pricing changes, or whether anything happens to existing balances.

Deals like this tend to change loyalty programs eventually, and not always in the holder's favor. But that is a general pattern, not something Lufthansa or Portugal has announced here. Today, nothing changes for you. If you have a pile of TAP miles, this is a reason to check whether you actually have a plan for them, not a reason to panic. If you were thinking about buying TAP miles speculatively because a combination might make them more valuable, don't. No one has promised that.

Where to watch

Three things are worth tracking: when the sale agreement is actually signed, whether regulators attach conditions at approval, and whether either side says anything about the loyalty programs. Until one of those happens, treat it as a headline about corporate ownership and not a change to your account.

Confirmed directly on Lufthansa Group's own newsroom release dated October 14, 2026.