The Portuguese government has revived the long-delayed privatization of national airline TAP, aiming to sell a 49.9% stake, with 5% of that portion reserved for employees, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced on Thursday.

Among TAP's main assets are its strategic flight slots to Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African countries, and the United States, all operating out of its Lisbon hub—assets the Portuguese government is keen to preserve and expand.

The privatization move has already attracted interest from Europe's three leading airline groups—Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and IAG—all of which have held meetings with the government over the past year.

(Written by Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip, French version by Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)