LISBON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Portugal's

soon-to-be-privatised airline TAP is well-positioned to tap into

strong growth potential in Brazil and Africa, Chief Executive

Luis Rodrigues said on Wednesday.

The airline operates routes to 13 Brazilian cities and 14

destinations in Africa, including Portuguese-speaking countries

such as Angola and Mozambique.

"We are fortunate to be well-positioned to tackle both of

them (Brazil and Africa)," he said at the World Aviation

Festival in Lisbon.

"Brazil is a promising country, and there's still a huge

opportunity there," he added, pointing to data showing tourism

in Brazil only representing about 6% of gross domestic product,

while in Portugal it accounts for about 16%.

"In a country that is 20 times as big as Portugal, the

opportunity is huge," Rodrigues said, adding though that while

"Africa is bigger than that", countries there still had more

structural constraints.

According to the CEO, TAP has "a good geographical balance"

between North America, South America, Europe, and Africa, which

allows for flexibility because "not all routes look good or bad

at the same time".

He also saw good prospects for TAP to grow in non-passenger

businesses, such as maintenance and engineering.

Portugal relaunched the long-delayed privatisation of TAP in

July, aiming to sell a 44.9% stake to an airline that could

bring global scale and competitiveness, with an additional 5% to

be offered to TAP employees.

"The time of (TAP) being proudly alone is gone, there was a

time when it was possible, but not anymore and I'd be happy to

be integrated into a larger group," Rodrigues said.

The government wants the new partner, which will take over

TAP's day-to-day management, to strengthen the airline's

position as a global operator.