Lufthansa is set to acquire TAP Air Portugal, according to a LinkedIn post on European airline consolidation. The post did not disclose a purchase price, and no financial terms were given.
The same post says Lufthansa merged with ITA in 2025 and that Air France–KLM plans to take control of SAS, describing these as examples of Europe's largest airline groups buying up medium-sized rivals. It cites 2023 data showing nearly six in ten flights within Europe were operated by just five airline groups.
The post also discusses the effects of consolidation on competition. It says fewer independent rivals can mean higher fares, less choice and poorer service, citing warnings from the European Consumer Organisation. It points to the US market, where American, Delta, United and Southwest, together with their regional partners, control around 80% of the domestic market, and cites a US Government Accountability Office review that identified short-term fare increases of 1–8% on routes where mergers reduced competition.
The post further argues that large airline groups increasingly dictate the terms on which booking platforms can offer their flights, including by making lowest fares available only on their own websites and charging extra for bookings through intermediaries. It says the EU's proposed Multimodal Booking Regulation would give airlines new protections against intermediaries without requiring them to share their fares, and argues that the Rail Ticketing Regulation, which requires access to tickets and booking data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, offers a better model.