Both Air France-KLM and Lufthansa said Wednesday they had submitted bids to acquire a controlling stake in TAP Air Portugal that is being re-privatised. The two airline groups had both submitted non-binding offers in April and had three months to submit binding offers. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementAir France-KLM said it was bidding for a 44.9 to 49.9 percent stake in the airline and pledged to "position Lisbon as its unique southern European hub". Lufthansa did not say how much of a stake it hoped to acquire, but also emphasised making Lisbon a southern European hub. "We want to strengthen Portugal's national airline as part of the Lufthansa Group and as the leading airline for the South Atlantic, with Lisbon as a strategic hub," said Lufthansa, which also owns the Swiss, Austrian and ITA carriers.