IAG, matrix Iberia And flyingwill bid for TAP, the Portuguese airline, among other companiesIn parallel with Air Europa’s acquisition process (awaiting approval by European Competition authorities), if the conditions for privatization set by the Portuguese Government are reasonable for the group.
“We will see what the Portuguese government thinks in this process and analyze whether it is interesting for IAG,” CEO Luis Gallego told EFE.
Attending the 79th general assembly of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Gallego emphasized that the IAG is always looking. consolidation opportunities and some did and some did not.
For example, do you remember this? Norway looked at the purchase, but it never worked As Air Europa continues to try and the European Commission (EC) DG Competition, depending on the level of ‘remedies’ (tasks) imposed on this operation, whether it makes sense to continue.
According to Gallego, “TAP may be an option, but we must first see under what circumstances it will be customized and whether it makes sense for our network and our customers.”
Two markets that complement each other
The manager, in principle, The markets in which Air Europa and TAP operate are complementary, secondly, with “there may be two operations running in parallel”, especially when flying to Brazil where his group doesn’t have much presence.
Regarding the proximity between Lisbon airport and Madrid-Barajas airport, IAG, an international group with several airlines (Iberia, British Airways -BA-, Vueling, Aer Lingus, Iberia Express and Level) has, for example, the Northern Atlantic: Dublin and London.
This kind of concern also arose with the purchase. aer lingus, He agreed, questioning whether its “integration into IAG would be bad for the Irish company because BA somehow could eat it up and it didn’t”.
Aer Lingus has improved a lot since then and confirms this development, which IAG shows has improved all the companies integrated with it.
According to him, the IAG model is best as it is less integrated at the commercial and network level and protects brands’ identities, customers and income statements. He underlined that there is no such degree of overlap between the different brands of the group, “We are a unique model”.
According to him, once the terms of TAP’s privatization process are made public, the three major European network groups in addition to IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa “will see if we are at least interested”.
IAG has always argued that it is a consolidation platform and said, “We believe that it is good to consolidate the market as it is consolidated in the United States, and that this should be Europe’s way, because ultimately this is an advantage for customers or for crises like the one we are experiencing during covid.”
“It’s clear what a consolidation will produce, and we’re each looking at the parts that can contribute the most to our business model,” he said.
First interactions with Europe
Regarding Air Europa, IAG has made its first contacts with the European Commission and is waiting for your questions about the operation after presenting the information.
The IAG is taking a proactive approach on routes it thinks may have more competition issues, but Gallego hasn’t disclosed whether it’s similar to what it presented in its first attempt to get AT approval for operation amid covid. and is retired at the end of 2021.
“We’re reviewing what might make sense with AK” because the context in which deals with Volotea and World2Fly are presented as possible solutions is different now.
Airlines are coming out of the crisis and demand is high, compared to the situation at the time when many companies could disappear, but it’s also true that now it’s time to pay back the debt incurred during covid, so “another Approach but the problem is the same,” he said.
Last quarter doubts
He said about the prospects for this year, it is not known whether it will be available. traffic increase It is preserved or not preserved over time.
The second and third quarters “look good”, but the last one is unknown, as corporate traffic is still below the 2019 level, and in addition, there are many uncertainties such as the war in ukraine or fuel price, among others.
Add to that the debt mentioned above, and while demand is strong right now, it’s going to drop at some point, so companies “need to be more cost efficient,” he concluded.
Source: Informacion
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