British Airways Owner IAG Makes Offer for Spanish Airline Air Europa
Photo Credit: An Air Europa Boeing 737-800. IAG is buying the airline. Flickr / Olivier CABARET
Skift Take
It's easier to understand IAG CEO Willie Walsh's sanguine tone on last week's earnings call given he clearly had this deal in the pipeline. If it goes through — and it's still a big if given the competition concerns — it will ease the pain of Delta's recent Latam deal.
IAG is making an offer to buy Air Europa for $1.1 billion (€1 billion) as it looks to take a bigger slice of the lucrative Europe-Latin America aviation market.
The deal comes just over a month after Delta agreed to buy 20 percent of Latam Group, potentially taking away IAG’s previous partner and introducing an element of uncertainty into its plans for the region.
Air Europa is part of Spanish tourism group Globalia, which also includes a tour operators, travel agencies and hotels. It operates scheduled domestic and international flights to 69 destinations, including European and long-haul routes to Latin America, the United States, Caribbean and North Africa.
IAG plans to position Air Europa within its Iberia unit while retaining the brand, at least initially. It will sit within the group's "value" segment alongside Irish carrier Aer Lingus and Iberia Express. Air Europa
