Iberia, who belongs to the IAG group, will study other alliances in case the purchase of Air Europe does not prosper, still pending of the approval of Brussels. This has been pointed out, Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, at the press conference after the presentation of results of the group.
The operation was announced in November 2019, but was paralyzed by the pandemic. Later Iberia linked it to the rescue by the Air Europa government. After this injection there was only the European Commission validated that nor was a problem of competition and authorized it.
The process is lengthened and is already in Phase 3, according to Galician, so the research will be extended until December 3. The executive has insisted that it is not "an easy agreement" and that possible alliances with operators in Latin America will be studied if it does not prosper.
"We have had previously associations with LATAM and there are other partners in the Latin American region whose relationship we could develop," had previously said in a teleconference with the UK press. Even so, he has insisted that the purchase of Air Europe "is a strategic decision for Spain and will be key to recovery after the crisis of the pandemic".
The owner group of Iberia, Vueling or British Airways reduced its losses by half in the first half of this second year of pandemic, up to 2,048 million, according to the results communicated today to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
The group flew 21% of its passenger transport capacity in the second trimester, and waits for the third, which coincides with the summer months, raises capacity at almost half, 45%.
However, the quoted company warns that these plans "are still subject to review" and "remain uncertain" by the uncertainties derived from the health crisis.
IAG had revenues in this period of 2,212 million. It is a decrease of 58% with respect to the same period of 2020, when these had already plummeted when passenger traffic because of the pandemic was chopped. As of June 30, liquidity was 10,200 million euros. Regarding expenses, 54% were reduced, up to 4,247 million.
For Galician, there is a demand wanting to travel that will do so as soon as restrictions on mobility get up.
This is reflected in the results of Iberia and Vueling. In the second quarter, both companies recorded the best yields within the group, for the recovery of the Spanish domestic market.
"We know that this recovery will not be homogeneous, but we are prepared to take advantage of an increase in the demand for travel as vaccination levels increase," says the executive in a note.
Galician has applauded the decision of the United Kingdom to exempt passengers with a complete vaccination pattern that arrive from the destinations in Amber on their Risk map of Covid, where Spain is.
The group that has also presented its results today is Air France-KLM. These yield "certain signs of recovery", as he points out in a statement. The group lost almost 3,000 million in the first half, 30% less than in 2020, and foresees flying between 60% and 70% of its capacity this summer with respect to 2019.
Date Of Update: 03 August 2021, 19:14
