Fernando Pinto (pictured), CEO of Portuguese airline TAP, will hold the reins of the company until its privatisation process is completed.
The Secretary of State for Transports Sérgio Monteiro held a meeting with the Brazilian CEO to ask him to stay on until the government re-launches privatisation plans for the airline this year – perhaps before the summer.
Pinto was due to leave his post in December 2011; however he made himself available to assist the government in the sale of TAP, a deal that should have been concluded at the end of last year if the proposal of Colombian businessman Germán Efromovich hadn’t been rejected for lack of bank guarantees.
Uncertainty surrounding the management of the airline could be detrimental to the new privatisation plans and the government needs to ensure stability for new bidders.
Since taking over the helm of TAP in 2000, Fernando Pinto has doubled the number of passengers, surpassing the 10 million-mark last year. The third quarter of 2012 was the best ever for the company, recording more than €102 million in profit and a growth of 21%.
