Deal for Air Europa

IT has been announced that the International Airlines Group (IAG) will purchase Air Europa for €1,000 million.

IAG, the Anglo-Spanish airline company whose subsidiaries include British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, has agreed to buy Air Europa from Llucmajor-based travel group Globalia. The acquisition is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2020.

In the report issued by IAG to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission, the company explains that the acquisition will unite the two largest Spanish airlines and will create an operational centre hub in Madrid.

The plan is to turn Madrid airport into a genuine rival to Europe’s four largest hubs – Frankfurt, Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol, where IAG will become Europe’s market leader for Caribbean and Latin American routes.

Javier Hidalgo, Globalia’s CEO, believes that the present and future of Air Europa will be strengthened and is convinced that joining IAG will prove to be a great success.

However, some groups and unions in the Balearic Islands have expressed their concern about the deal due to the dependence of the islands’ connectivity with the airline. According to the General Secretary of the Federation of Citizens Services, employees at the Globalia headquarters in Mallorca are also worried about the future of their jobs on the island.

Air Europa operates flights to 69 destinations in Spain, Europe, northern Africa, the Caribbean, the US and Latin America. The airline’s operating profit in 2018 was 100 million euros and they achieved a turnover of €2,100 million.