The group is bidding for TAP Air Portugal and is looking to increase its stake in SAS.
Air France-KLM has secured a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) multi-purpose credit facility that will be used partly to finance mergers and acquisitions activity “which may arise from the second half of 2026”.
The Franco-Dutch airline group signed the facility, which matures in June 2028 but can be extended by one year, with a syndicate of 12 banks.
“The purpose of the facility is to refinance existing financial instruments including instruments associated with the group’s M&A activity…which may arise from the second half of 2026,” says Air France-KLM.
The carrier is competing with Lufthansa Group for a 44.9% stake in TAP Air Portugal, with both airlines having submitted non-binding offers for the Lisbon-based operator.
Air France-KLM is also in the process of increasing its stake in Scandinavian carrier SAS from 19.9% to 60.5%, via a full acquisition of the stakes held by US investment firm Castlelake and Lind Invest.
Group chief executive Ben Smith is also reported to have expressed an interest in joining Castlelake’s potential bid for UK carrier EasyJet. Castlelake has until 26 June to decide whether to make a formal offer for EasyJet, after confirming on 30 May that it was in the “early stages” of considering a bid for the carrier.
KLM chief executive Marjan Rintel would not be drawn on the EasyJet rumours when she spoke to FlightGlobal during the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month.
Responding to reports that Air France-KLM is considering rebranding as the Blue Group, Rintel said: “At the end, it’s all about the brands. We have KLM as a brand, we have Air France as a brand, we have Transavia as a brand, we have SAS as a brand and, hopefully, maybe TAP in the future – and that’s the face to the customers.”
Speaking in a panel discussion during the AGM, TAP chief executive Luis Rodrigues said the acquisition process was “on time, on schedule and bidders have to make binding offers by 29 July”. TAP would then “decide after the summer” how to proceed.
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