Iberia insists on the goal of conquest Air Europe. The IAG group continues its intention to reach an agreement with Globalia to acquire 100% of the Spanish airline – already has a part after receiving 20% of its capital – before the end of the first quarter of next yearThe moment the exclusivity year agreed with the Hidalgo family ends, according to its chairman, Luis Gallego, in a phone call with the media following the presentation of the group’s results for the first nine months of 2022.
“We have to come somewhere agree on price, which is interesting for both parties. We have a year of exclusivity that will end in the first quarter of next year and we want to reach an agreement as soon as possible,” said Gallego. The leader, who is the former president of Iberia, agreed that if all goes as expected, the ‘arrest’ is accepted. After obtaining the necessary permissions from the competition authorities, won’t it be within a year when effective purchasing will take place?
As for the price, a year ago 500 million euros, half of what was planned At first Gallego limited himself, saying, “If you ask Globalia they say it should be older, and if you ask me it should be younger, you have to find a balance.”
With a profit of €199 million in the first nine months of 2022 compared to a loss of €2,622 million a year ago, the group is on a solid footing, with strong demand from the “premium” holiday segment and recovery in corporate traffic. All airlines of the group benefitWith earnings of 259 million euros (almost 30 million more than before the pandemic) for Vueling and 246 million euros (27 million less) for Iberia. Air Lingus earned 139 million (30 million less).
Bookings without signs of crisis
The group has yet to notice any signs of economic weakness in reserves for the last quarter or first months of 2023.”We don’t see any signs of weakness in reserves“confirms Gallego. Gallego estimates that airlines’ capacity will be in fourth place for about 87% of 2019, which will place all 2022 capacity at around 78% of 2019 levels. Between January and March of the next year, it will be 2019. It expects to increase to 95% of .
As for rates, Gallego declined to make a statement, assuring that prices had risen due to energy and inflation, but that “prices would adjust” as capacity increased and demand decreased. The company is currently a Fuel coverage level from 68% will drop to 63% As Gallego explains, in the first quarter of 2023, it will increase to 53% in the second quarter, etc. The first executive of the group also stated that the company has changed its coverage policy with covid – it was three years at the time – for a shorter period of time depending on the airline and the state of the competition.
Vueling strike
The company is facing a quarterly cabin crew strike by the Stavla union every Friday, Sunday and Monday from November 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023, as well as on December 1, 6, 8, 24 and 31 this year, and January 5 next will stay. . In this sense, Marco Sansavini, CEO of Vueling, Salary increase demanded by workers (13.4%) is “unsustainable”. “Vueling can’t negotiate with the threat of strikes,” added Sansavini, who guarantees a 90 percent operation on down days.
Regarding this, the IAG chairman said, “Our vision for the group is that agreements with different groups are essential to ensure stability when making decisions in the coming years, but on the other hand it is necessary to pay off this debt and buy aircraft, so we must come to civil agreements that allow us to maintain the sustainability of the group”.