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Higher oil prices have driven airlines to different solutions like capacity reduction, merger related synergies, airfare increase, charging for the usual freebies, etc.
British Airways and Spain’s flag carrier Iberia (or Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. ) are deep in merger talks with Iberia “have taken direct/indirect 10% stake in British rival”. The merger is backed by boards on both airlines and will create the third largest airline in Europe (after KLM-Air France and Lufthansa).
So, as usual, I set out to find how the combined entity would look. Please be aware that I do not account for possible merger related capacity reduction (or airplane retirement) and unforeseeable changes.
British Airways in BLUE and Iberia in RED –
- Headquartered – Waterside, Harmondsworth, UK and Madrid, Spain
- Destinations – 147 + 115 (+19 future) =252 (+19 future) – OVERLAP
- Frequent Flier Program – Executive Club, Premier + Iberia Plus = ?
- Alliance – Oneworld
- Hubs – London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, Barajas Int’l Airport
- Fleet – Airbus A318, A319, A320, A321, A380-800*; Boeing 737, 757, 767, 747, 777, 787* + Airbus A319, A320, A321, A340; McDonnell Douglas MD-88
- Fleet Size – 235 (+62 orders) + 152 (+19 orders) =387 (+81 orders)
- Company Slogan – Upgrade to British Airways + With Iberia , you’re more = Upgrade with more???
Since, British Airways is a bigger airline, there might be a possible BA head over the combined airline. Willie Walsh as CEO???
Airliner Blog 