IAG reaches breaking point in Brussels: gives 52% of Air Europa routes to competitors to save company | Companies

New IAG proposal to the European Commission to transfer business to other airlines (Facilities) to be able to absorb Air Europa, introduced on June 10, the latter’s capacity increased from 40% to 52%. This was explained this morning by sources from Iberia, the airline of the IAG network that competes with Air Europa, mainly at Madrid-Barajas airport.

The buyer describes the decisive part of the negotiations with the EU Directorate General for Competition as “constructive dialogue”. “We are reviewing the objections that (Competition) have sent to us regarding the purchase of Air Europa.” Plastic bag Facilities modified by large concessions to rivals, is the last before the verdict of the community authorities. This is a response to the protocol of objections published by the General Directorate of the competition on April 26.

“Our new proposal involves ceding up to 52% of Air Europa’s routes to rival airlines in 2023. This does not imply a reduction in capacity, but rather a guarantee that there will be multiple competitors on all routes and therefore different options for travelers,” Iberia sources say. These efforts, they said, demonstrate interest in integrating Iberia and Air Europa to create operational synergies by avoiding the current duplication between domestic and Latin American operations.

IAG says the sum of Spain’s two largest companies in the aviation sector is “essential for development center Madrid at the level of the Nordic countries, to improve the connectivity of Spain, especially with Asia, and create new opportunities for wealth creation and employment in our country.”

The Commission and IAG agreed on a ten-day extension to review the operation, to which a further 15 days were added following the registration of the new concession proposal. However, the deadline for the Competition to make its decision is 20 August, although there is a possibility that new information requirements will emerge from the company and the clock will stop again in Brussels on this examination with subsequent extensions of the deadline.

100% of Air Europa’s capital was valued at 500 million euros, to which was added a debt of more than 600 million. IAG had anticipated this decisive moment by taking an initial 20% stake in the airline Globalia for 100 million. To carry out the planned distribution of capacity, the air holding put on the table a list of six companies that had signed letters of interest as recipients of routes (those taking medicationsin legal jargon): Ryanair, Volotea and Binter for short-haul flights, Colombian Avianca, as well as Spanish World2Fly and Iberojet for long-haul flights.

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