It’s a continuing good day from British Airways it seems today with the European Commission green-lighting the proposed BA and Iberia Merger to form International Airlines Group.
As usual, the deal is to cut costs, with both BA and Iberia bleeding money.
The new company will be called International Airlines Group (based in Spain) with the classic British Airways& and Iberia brands to continue operating as normal.
In terms of anti-competition concerns, there was no issues expected due to the amount of competition that exists on core routes, and routes on its periphery – The European Commission said it did not have any anti-competition concerns over the merger because the enlarged airline would continue to face competition from rivals, even on routes such as London-Madrid and London-Barcelona.
When the merger was confirmed, BA said the group would operate 419 aircraft, flying to more than 200 destinations, and carry a total of 62 million passengers a year.
With IAG now confirmed, it can begin the work of reducing costs, or dread the thought – expanding its sphere of influence….
