[openfly]

….is this true? If this is true it’s an amazing move. Star Alliance airline??

[pheighdough]

Didn’t Ryanair buy a stake in Air Europa a couple of years ago? I may be wrong, but if this is true it’s an interesting purchase for the strengthening of IAG

[FirstClassWannabe]

This is on the news now here in Spain. Who expected this?

[capetonianm]

They will probably integrate it into IB or even worse VY and drag it down to that level.

[openfly]

…my mistake, Air Europa is Skyteam….was Skyteam!!

[nibbler]

skyteam; at least on their website.

[FirstClassWannabe]

Will this given approval though? It will certainly put a stop to Air France´s South American ambitions.

[transtraxman]

This certainly is a surprise and it will be even more so if the European Competition Authorities permit it to go through.IAG is just trying to eliminate competition on the South American routes, so it will not be beneficial for Iberia nor passengers.
If IAG want to strengthen its position in America TAP would be a better bet but even so that would be up for competition investigation – it was a few years ago.
The weakness and thus the target for IAG is elsewhere in Europe with Norwegian (or SAS) as a prime target.
I thought Willy Walsh had broader horizons – I am disappointed.

[SimonS1]

https://www.cnmv.es/Portal/HR/verDoc.axd?t={88dc19ca-4415-47ab-b284-6070bbea9019}

Presentation on the deal. You may need to paste the full URL to your browser.

3 users thanked author for this post.

tomwjsimpson, travelsforfun, LuganoPirate

[Mark Caswell]

Here’s our news piece:

IAG to buy Air Europa

[rferguson]

[postquote quote=976560][/postquote]

Slightly OT but I begrudgingly had to fly Vueling BCN-LGW the other week. First time ever and I was DREADING it. Have to say….it was fine! Legroom was no worse than BA. The flight departed to the minute. Boarding was well organised. The crew were well turned out and professional. All in all for a 1.5hr flight not any worse than any other major airline on the route.

But back to Air Europe – surprising indeed. Not really sure why IAG would be interested but one aspect could be Air Europes Latin American network. They have a reasonable number of destinations to LATAM and since LATAM the airline is leaving OW maybe it will plug a small hole.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=976567]This certainly is a surprise and it will be even more so if the European Competition Authorities permit it to go through.IAG is just trying to eliminate competition on the South American routes, so it will not be beneficial for Iberia nor passengers.[/quote]

Exactly my thought, and I wonder why it seems to me that airlines (groups) are exempt from the normal scrutiny surrounding monopolies.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this leave Spain without a 2nd carrier that competes directly with Iberia?

And continues the IAG / BA habit of gobbling up direct competition

[sparkyflier]

Indeed Canucklad, IB is gobbling up its number 1 competitor (at least to Latin America).

And it needs competition to at least give a nominal reason to improve the cabin service.

I have flown IB and although most Spanish are very friendly indeed, too many IB crew feel that they have to be different, and can be aloof, arrogant and not attentive. I once flew J on an A330 and pressed the call button, only for a cabin crew person to 10 minutes after walk past, turn it off, an carry on walking along, not thinking to ask what my query or request was.

And yesterday a friend of mine flew MAD-GIG and commented that “they need to improve their service, urgently”.

So with this buyout, they have less of a reason to do so.

From a business/branding point, I wonder if they will use the UX brand to replace Vueling and Level, and indeed could some of their 787s be heading to London and BA. Thomas Cook airlines flew many long distance routes from LGW, could some of these aid BA to service those routes?

[transtraxman]

This is the last big splash by Willy Walsh before he leaves the company within the two year period he has set himself.
(https://www.businesstraveller.com/forums/topic/who-does-iag-need-as-its-next-ceo/)
Buying Air Europa means eliminating all domestic competition in Spain (except for Ryanair) and competition on the routes to LatinAmerica. These resulting monopolistic positions are usually short-lived as the authorities will not permit them and they are of no benefit to passengers.
Apart from other examples I have mentioned the likes of “Finnair” are there for the taking as well as someone like “LOT” which would be excellent.
It seems that Willy Walsh has a very narrow vision of the European airline market – that is very disappointing. The price to be paid for Air Europa @ €1.1 billion seems to be extremely expensive in comparison to the €200 million Lufthansa is paying for Alitalia.
This deal will tie up IAG for two years so cannot be acceptable. Willy Walsh should accept he has passed his sell-by date and leave now. Thank you but go (and I speak as an IAG shareholder).

[canucklad]

As I alluded to earlier, this acquisition definitely feels more predatory than collaborative , and as such I’d describe it as lazy management.

If I was a shareholder looking for real growth , I’d be looking at emerging markets and airlines that could be managed better
And at the same time compliment the existing carriers within the group

Arik Air would be my first choice

[Author]

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