Portugal's TAP confident EU will approve restructuring plan

Portugal’s flag carrier TAP is confident the EC will approve a restructuring plan that would allow the airline to avoid repaying a government-backed loan, its chief executive said on Tuesday. In April, TAP asked for help as the company, which usually operates around 2,500 flights per week, was forced to suspend almost all of them as demand for travel collapsed in the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this month, the EC approved Portugal’s plan for a E1.2b rescue loan for TAP. Rescue aid can be granted for a maximum of six months and authorities have committed that TAP will reimburse the loan or submit a restructuring plan in that time. “We believe it is possible to send a restructuring plan to the European Commission that is accepted because we believe TAP has a viable business model,” CEO Antonoaldo Neves told a parliamentary committee. “TAP has new planes, it has an extraordinary team,” Neves added. “Now it will be a long and hard recovery.”<br/>