IAG Acquiring Full Control Of Air Europa Within 18 Months

I guess we'll see them at JFK's T8?

Air Europa is kind of budget airline/brand, while Iberia seems to be more "full feature airline". That said the difference between the two is not that large, with Iberia level akin to American and BA.

Meanwhile, Level continues to survive as a brand without a purpose or much visibility.

Why not fold the two together into a single LCC model that serves Latin America and parts of the US on a budget travel basis?

As a MAD O/D flier, I only see this as bad news.

Informative article, thanks. BUT I find it misleading to say that the main intent is to turn Madrid into a truly global hub. That may be a side benefit, but -- as with most takeovers -- the main intent is to eliminate competition, assume greater market share, and make greater profits. If previous such takeovers are any guide, this will lead to higher consumer prices, declining service, and significant layoffs as the new company seeks to eliminate 'redundancies.' No wonder regulators are scrutinizing this. Anyway, we shall see...

Would be nice to keep LHR largely an O/D market and use Madrid to funnel connections. LHR has to be my least favorite airport to connect in.

Air Europa was at T4 this past Thanksgiving and it was a clusterf! I have lived in NY my entire life and do not ever remember having taken a bus to a plane at JFK or LGA in the middle of the airfield.

But, my wife and I got 2 of the last business seats being offered through AF/Sky Team for 108K return during Thanksgiving week. For our trip in February, Air Europa no longer came up.

This reminds me a little bit of China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines... I thought Shanghai Airlines was more of a domestic subsidiary but then pre-pandemic, I flew a Shanghai Airlines 787 from PVG to BUD on a 787. Everything else onboard was branded as China Eastern, but the livery was Shanghai Airlines. I am still not sure why they maintain separate branding.

Ony id IAG funds staff for all the empty booths at MAD's passport control points. Those lines can already stretch over an hour.

How many brands and versions of Avios does IAG need? LH's strategy is much more rational. IAG should simplify into flag carriers (BA, AerL, Iberia) and one discount brand (Vueling? Level? OpenSkies?), and then save their marketing spending to improve the IT backbone of all these airlines. They should just create a white label platform and then slap on the right branding depending on the carrier.

In all honesty, having flown both IB and UX somewhat regularly, both of them seem to offer a ver similar service. If anything, I'd say that for my latest travels I have noticed UX has a bit more legroom than IB (and based on a quick search, it's usually 28 v 29 inches) and I tend to find IB's FAs to be less attentive and more uninterested than UX's and LH's (Germany-based).

I have always inclined more towards IB (their Latin America network fitted my work trips best), but with no travel to the region ever since and resultantly my status gone, I find myself booking the two airlines mentioned above when I have to go to Spain.

hard to believe the EU would approve this while still not approving the Korean/Asiana merger which is equally about eliminating a competitor.

LH's strategy isn't rational either. They've got a bunch of brands that are hard to differentiate as well. In fact, LH may have the most baffling "strategy" of all. Frankly, the most rational European airline group is Air France/KLM. The two airlines maintain separate identities, yet compliment each other perfectly.

I still can't see what their business model is supposed to be. The route network of IB and UX is largely overlapping. Both are full service airlines on long haul flights as well as European style shorthaul business class. The only strategy that could make sense is to close down large parts of UX in order to eliminate a competitor ...

They barely complement each other. Many in KLM feels AF dominates the partnership like an abusive partner, and it is evident on the fractured aircraft deliveries over the years with the A350s and B787s

Good. I hope the Korean/Asiana merger falls through. Mergers hurt the consumer, and in many cases, also the employees.

Same. One LCC for short and long haul can streamline operations. This reminds me of Japan where Zipair Tokyo (long haul only) a separate entity from Jetstar Japan (short haul only) when they could easily just have Jetstar Japan acquire 787-8s and be both a short and long haul LCC just like it’s Australian counterpart. Or even transfer all of the Jetstar A320s to Zipair. At the same time, I think the idea of having a variety of liveries could be aesthetically cool the same way having a bunch of redundant hotel brands is.

the whole reason Korean/Asiana was proposed was because the Korean development bank - whatever it is called - invested in Asiana which was financially weak even before covid. S. Korea, like many countries in Asia - cannot support two global airlines. Asiana has tried hard to stay neck in neck w/ Korean and it is doubtful that either can achieve a decent level of profitability.
Unlike E. Asia, the EU allows cross-country competition but Spain has a healthy domestic market while there is very little in S. Korea.
S. Korea has decide what it wants - airlines aren't the only industry where there is intense S. Korean competition with not necessarily great financial results from multiple companies.

The EU and US are a little more pragmatic about allowing mergers when financial results demonstrate it is necessary to do so.

Mergers are bad for the consumer and the employee. Competition keeps each other’s prices in check and make travel more affordable. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for IAG to acquire Air Europa. Now people in have fewer options. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of Spaniards who dislike IB but still want to travel the world on their own country’s carrier. I’m pretty sure Germans would love an alternative to LH. Look at the UK with British and Virgin successfully coexisting. Look at Taiwan with half the population and now three FSCs. They value the public having options. Now Skyteam won’t have much of a presence in Southwestern Europe or the Europe to Latin America / South America market. TAP in Star, Iberia in oneworld, and Air Europa in Skyteam was perfectly balanced as all things should be. And aesthetically I just can’t picture an Iberia 737 or 787.

I get the whole "eliminating a competitor" thing but IAG and ow are weak on the continent. MAD and HEL are on the fringes of Europe, as is LHR, and they could really use a central continental Euro carrier. LOT maybe.

this one is easy - it is because Shanghai City government wants planes flying its the city name around the globe

Hope OneWorld adds aireuropa and Aer Lingus

We'd all be better off if LH had gone after Air Europa, and IAG got ITA

I disagree -- actually think the LH group (as a company) could benefit from less differentiation between their flag carriers. Its irrational that they have different fleets, seat maps, catering. Swiss has the throne seat in business, while Austrian has the best airline catering and coffee. Lufthansa is pretty generic. But at least their FF program is unified, as is KLM/AF Flying Blue.

FM was originally owned by Shanghai City Gov. While CES,CSN,CCA were centralized corp from day 1.

Where do you get that the intent is to keep both brands going forward?
Not what we are reading here in Spain...

I think the JetStar branding could cost JAL more, while ZIPAIR branding isn't as appeal to travellers as JetStar.

British Airways owner IAG scraps deal to acquire Air Europa - https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/iag-terminates-deal-acquire-air-europa-2024-08-01/