British Airways and Iberia to Sign Merger Deal Next Week
Sharon MillerRecently British Airways declined to confirm that they will be signing their final merger agreement with Iberia next week. A report has claimed that the two carriers are set to sign a deal next Thursday, March 25th. Despite these claims a spokesman for the UK airline refuses to comment.
The spokesman did go on to acknowledge that it has always been the airline’s intention to sign a deal within the first three months of this year after the formal merger was announced just last November. Some claim that the Oneworld Alliance carriers have already registered the named International Airline Group, which will operate the join venture.
Of course, this merger has been a slow process for both parties. British Airways and Iberia announced their merger only after 16 months of very long talks. At times it was thought that the deal would not be able to go through due to certain problems, like British Airways’ pension deficit.
Under the current deal, British Airways will hold 55 percent of the new company against Iberia’s 45 percent. Both British Airways and Iberia will keep their own individual brands, but a statement by the two loss-making carriers said that they expected to make about €400 million in annual synergies.
Almost one-third of this money is thought to come from a joint sales operation and network and revenue management benefits. The rest will come by way of savings on IT, fleet, maintenance and back office functions. This merger will create the third largest airline operation in the world behind Air France and Lufthansa.
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Filed under Business & Finance, Europe News, Travel News, UK News, World News