Aer Lingus owner IAG weighs buying Portugal's TAP

IAG boss also said airline group open to selling some Madrid slots to Ryanair

IAG, qhich opens Aer Lingus, is open to selling some Madrid slots to Ryanair.

IAG, which owns Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia, may be interested in acquiring Portugal's state-owned airline TAP if conditions are right, its chief executive Luis Gallego has said. 

Separately, Mr Gallego said IAG was open to selling some Madrid slots to Ryanair as part of potential remedies to its acquisition of Air Europa.

"The TAP operation may make sense from a strategic point of view because of the Brazilian market, they are complementary... but we have to look at the other conditions under which it is privatised," Mr Gallego said.

The Portuguese government has said it wants to sell TAP as early as this month, once the company's value is established, but intends to keep a strategic stake.

At least three major global carriers — IAG, Lufthansa, and Air France-KLM — have so far shown an interest.

IAG has agreed to buy the remaining 80% in Spanish carrier Air Europa it did not already own for €400m. The deal still needs antitrust clearance by the European Commission.

Ryanair said this month it was keen to buy any Madrid slot the EU Commission would force IAG to sell. 

"We are following the process because we are interested in the possible liberation of slots in different airports," Ryanair's country communications manager for Spain told a Spanish newspaper. 

"We are interested in slots in Canary and Balearic Islands and in Madrid, but the truth is that we are open to any opportunity as we are in growth phase in Spain," she added.