From FT.com:
******
The boards of British Airways and Iberia met for the first time on Thursday night in Madrid, as the two airlines deepen their alliance against the background of accelerating consolidation in the European airline industry.
BA and Iberia are already closely linked with the UK airline holding a 9 per cent equity stake in the Spanish carrier and having two members on its board.
The two groups have also entered a close commercial alliance with a joint venture on UK/Spain routes, which is awaiting approval by the European competition authorities.
Rod Eddington, BA chief executive, said in an interview in Expansión, the Spanish business newspaper, on Friday “if we had to choose a company for a bigger consolidation in the future, it would be Iberia”.
The Spanish airline was the “most important” company for BA in Europe.
The two carriers have already told Brussels that they are are aiming to co-ordinate and integrate their global commercial and marketing strategies and distribution, including co-ordination on pricing, common network planning and revenue and profit sharing in particular between the UK and Spain.
The dinner between the directors of the two airlines preceded a full meeting of the BA board in Madrid on Friday, one of a regular schedule of board meetings held in important locations in the BA network.
The contact between the two groups gained added significance, however, as it came only days after the announcement of the planned takeover of KLM, the Dutch national carrier, by Air France. The move will create the world’s largest carrier by turnover and the third largest by traffic volumes.
The Air France-KLM merger was preceded last week by the signing of a commercial pact by BA with Swiss International Airlines. This will be followed by the entry of Swiss into Oneworld, the global airline alliance, which already includes both BA and Iberia.
Mr Eddington said that BA would watch very closely, how the planned Air France-KLM merger was treated by the regulatory authorities in both Europe and in the US. The proposed holding company structure “could be a good formula,” he said.
“It is important that each company maintains its identity and its strengths. It is a very interesting model and could be appropriate for other airlines.”
Mr Eddington said that BA had no plan at the moment to increase its stake in Iberia.
*****
I said it was coming….It seems a sensible idea for the future.
By: Saab 2000 - 7th October 2003 at 18:18
I think it’s fifth largest..LHR, CDG, FRA, AMS, MAD?
Anyhow that is true that IB would recieve access to BA’s strong North American network also. No real overlap or conflicts of interest are there?
By: MapleLeaf_330 - 6th October 2003 at 21:27
Iberia would also get access to BA’s excellent North American network. Also, Madrid is what the 6th largest hub in Europe?
By: Saab 2000 - 4th October 2003 at 18:54
Originally posted by keltic
Merger?….sounds interesting. I still can´t see why BA is so interested in getting such a dull airline as Iberia.
Why wouldn’t BA be interested? They are by far one of the best matches in Europe. BA already has a 10% stake in Iberia so the indications are there. They are both very healthy airlines and they are already alliance partners with an in depth relationship. BA would gain access to Iberia’s rule of the Europe-South America flights; Iberia would gain access to BA’s predominant Middle East and Asia routes with little overlaps on networks. Moreover, a healthy connection between the UK and Spain. In my opinion they seem like a perfect match in Europe for consolidation.
By: keltic - 4th October 2003 at 15:51
Merger?….sounds interesting. I still can´t see why BA is so interested in getting such a dull airline as Iberia.
By: Hand87_5 - 4th October 2003 at 13:21
It sounds like AF “shaked the coconut tree” as we say in French.
The next month will be interesting ….
Sign In
October 4, 2003 at 12:56 pm