British Airways- Iberia

Jeannot a écrit:Lu dans Air et Cosmos n° 2195 du 20 novembre 2009 en page 31.

Les deux compagnies ont trouvé un accord sur le poids de chacun dans le capital de la holding qui les chapeautera et qui a pour nom provisoire Topco : 55 % pour British Airways et 45 % pour Iberia qui gardent leurs identités et leurs pavillons.
...
Ni Iberia ni Topco n'apporteront de garantie, liquidités ou facilités de crédit destinées à financer le plan de retraite de British Airways. Cette dernière devra donc régler par elle-même l'épinueuse question du déficit de 3,2 Md€ de son fonds de pension. D'autant qu'Iberia a indiqué qu'elle ne concluerait pas la fusion en l'absence de solution. De quoi jeter une ombre sur le projet dévoilé le 12 novembre.

Toujours le problème du fonds d epension de BA. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

"I think February will be decisive for the deal. There's not much left that needs agreeing to, if anything at all," -- Miguel Blesa, chairman Caja Madrid.

"Iberia and British Airways could seal their merger agreement as early as February, the Spanish flag carrier's largest shareholder, savings bank Caja Madrid, said on Tuesday.
"We're on the right track. I think February will be decisive for the deal. There's not much left that needs agreeing to, if anything at all," Caja Madrid chairman Miguel Blesa told reporters at a presentation of the savings bank's 2009 results.
"I don't know if it will be (signed) in February but it won't go past March," Blesa added.

Iberia and BA announced a memorandum of understanding in November for a merger to create the world's third largest airline by revenue.
The main stumbling block to the merger will be an agreement on how to address BA's multi-billion pound pension fund deficit.
(Reuters)

Les compagnies aériennes British Airways, American Airlines et Iberia, soupçonnées d'entente illégale sur les vols transatlantiques par la Commission européenne, lui ont fait des propositions pour tenter d'y remédier, a annoncé Bruxelles lundi.

Spanish airline Iberia has slated February 12 and February 25 as possible dates to sign the memorandum of
understanding for its merger with British Airways, financial daily Cinco Dias reported on Wednesday.

Iberia hosted a summit with 90 top executives last week in Madrid, during which it set the date for the planned tie-up and a target to grow its long-haul operation by 10 percent in two years, Cinco Dias cited sources familiar with the summit saying.

Iberia and BA announced a memorandum of understanding in November for a merger to create the world's third largest airline by revenue.

The main stumbling block to the merger will be an agreement on how to address the British carrier's multi-billion pound pension fund deficit.

BA posts third-quarter to end-December results on Friday, with analysts expecting an operating loss of between GBP£90 million and GBP£100 million.
Iberia reports its full-year to December results on February 24. (Reuters)

Spanish carrier Iberia posted a record operating loss on Thursday, hit by declining air travel and underscoring challenges facing the industry as the airline seeks shelter in a merger with British Airways.

Iberia said its loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) widened to EUR€464 million euros (USD$629 million) in 2009, deeper than forecasts for EUR€335 million, in what is likely to be its last full-year earnings as Spain's national flag carrier.

The airline's strict cost control failed to offset falling passenger numbers and yields as the economic crisis hit travel. Revenues slumped 19 percent to EUR€4.4 billion.
Airlines' yields, the revenue made on each passenger for every mile travelled, have suffered from a decline in premium travel in the global recession, which has been particularly brutal in Spain.
"Results are below forecasts, primarily on revenues which reflect the ongoing weakness in demand," Jonathan Wober, analyst for Societe Generale said.

Roughly a third of Iberia's revenues come from its domestic market, further hit by low-cost carriers and the roll-out of high-speed rail, particularly on the key Madrid-Barcelona route.
The airline swung to a net loss of EUR€273 million in 2009, with a EUR€91 million loss in the fourth quarter alone.
The results follow recent mixed numbers from merger partner British Airways, which posted a surprise third-quarter operating profit, and rivals such as Air France-KLM which unveiled heavier than expected losses and said more was to come.
BA and Iberia plan to seal a definitive agreement in the first quarter to create the world's third largest airline by revenue. BA shareholders will have 55 percent of the new company and Iberia shareholders 45 percent.

(Reuters)

British Airways hopes to sign its merger agreement with Iberia by the end of this month, and said a potential strike by its cabin crew had not impacted forward bookings.
"We're aiming to sign the merger agreement with Iberia by the end of the first quarter of 2010, that's the plan," BA's group treasurer George Stinnes said.

BA faces a costly strike after its cabin crew last month gave overwhelming backing for industrial action.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, however, told a meeting of the airline's staff on Wednesday that 6,000 workers had volunteered to support the airline in the event of a strike, by undertaking additional duties.

A spokesman said 1,000 of the volunteers would be fully trained to work as cabin crew.

The airline has about 13,500 cabin crew, mostly based at Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London.
The Unite union has not yet set a date for the walkout, but Stinnes said the uncertainty had not hit BA's bookings for March.
"It (the potential strike) has made no real difference to March bookings... bookings for March are strong and show a steady improvement year-on-year," he said.

BA said it carried 1.1 percent more passengers in February year-on-year, boosting hopes that air traffic demand is recovering.
The airline said the number of premium passengers continued to rise, jumping 5 percent on the 2009 figure, while non-premium traffic edged up 0.3 percent on the same month last year.
"Last year's February traffic was affected by weather disruption," said Stinnes. "However, the Americas have driven part of the improvement in trade. Pricing has been sensible, and yields and volumes are pretty much unchanged on recent months."
Low-cost rival Ryanair on Wednesday said it carried 6 percent more passengers last month than it did a year ago.(Reuters)

British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have offered to cede a number of lucrative trans-Atlantic slots in an attempt to ease competition concerns and gain EU approval for their alliance.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that interested parties would have until April 10 to comment on the airlines' concessions. The three carriers are members of the oneworld airline alliance.
"If the market test confirms that the proposed commitments remedy the competition concerns, the Commission may adopt a decision... making the commitments legally binding on the parties," the European Union competition watchdog said.

It said in a statement that the airlines had offered to give up some landing and take-off slots for routes from London to Dallas, Boston, Miami, Chicago and New York, and from Madrid to Miami.
The carriers also proposed to allow access to their frequent flyer programmes on the routes and submit data on their cooperation.

The Commission opened an investigation into the planned alliance last April.

The airlines want to manage jointly schedules, capacity and pricing as well as share revenues on routes between North America and Europe.
American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian last month secured tentative approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for their plan to form an alliance.
The DOT has given interested parties 45 days to object. Answers to objections will take a further 15 days.
The Commission is also probing proposed alliances between members of Star Alliance, and members of SkyTeam, both rivals of oneworld.

(Reuters)

Oneworld partners British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia offered to lease at least four daily slot pairs at London Heathrow or Gatwick to competing carriers for service to three US cities in order to address regulatory concerns about their proposed transatlantic joint venture.

Early last month the European Commission said it was assessing "the effectiveness of proposed commitments" by the airlines designed to address a formal Statement of Objections issued last September. At that time, the EC identified a number of long-haul routes, mainly between LHR and the US, with potential antitrust issues [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
Later in February the US Dept. of Transportation tentatively granted antitrust immunity to the oneworld joint venture under the condition that the carriers surrender four slot pairs at LHR for up to 10 years [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. DOT did not suggest LGW was an acceptable alternative. AA and BA repeatedly have resisted ceding slots at LHR.
Yesterday, BA issued a statement addressing the EC investigation and pledged that the trio will make available for lease to non-oneworld airlines two daily slot pairs to Boston from either LHR or LGW, one daily slot pair to Dallas/Fort Worth from LHR or LGW and one daily slot pair to Miami from LHR or LGW. In addition, two slot pairs from London to New York JFK could be made available "should today's competitive conditions between [the cities] change," according to BA.

"The slots can be leased from the airlines' current slot portfolio and don't have to be slots currently used on the specified routes. The European Commission has agreed that the airlines should be compensated financially by those airlines wishing to lease slots," BA said.

"We're pleased that the EC has recognized that we should be compensated for leasing the slots. This reflects the fact that there is an active slots market in London where slots are generally traded for value," BA CEO Willie Walsh said. There had been speculation that the EC might demand the slots be surrendered for free. The initial leasing period will be five years, a BA spokesperson told ATWOnline, adding that the decision regarding which airline will give up which slot will be finalized once regulatory approval is finalized."

"The EC is expected to conduct its "market test" phase, which allows third parties to comment on the airlines' proposal, before making a final decision on April 10.
Regarding the US DOT ruling, the oneworld trio reiterated that it is "reviewing the order and will respond by the timeframe established for comments," and said it "welcomed the EU's announcement that it will be working closely with the US DOT and taking into account its opinion at key points in the regulatory process." A final DOT ruling is expected at the end of April.

by Cathy Buyck

MADRID, 18 mars 2010 (AFP)L'accord définitif de fusion entre la compagnie aérienne espagnole Iberia et la britannique British Airways (BA) sera approuvé par les conseils d'administration jeudi 25 mars, selon le journal espagnol Expansion.

2010 AFP

MADRID, March 18, 2010 (AFP)The boards of British Airways and Iberia will approve a merger of the two airlines on March 25, the Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the companies.

2010 AFP

BA and Iberia sign formal merger agreement

Oneworld carriers [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Iberia have signed their formal merger agreement, following the tentative pact they forged last November.
The merger will create a new holding company, International Airlines Group, under which both carriers will retain their operations and brands.
BA and Iberia state that they expect the merger to be completed late this year.
The terms of the agreement are "consistent" with November's binding memorandum of understanding.
BA says the new group will operate a combined fleet of 408 aircraft, covering more than 200 destinations and transporting over 58 million passengers per year.
"It has been structured so that it can take advantage of further consolidation in the global aviation industry," it adds.

Le transport aérien est en ébullition. Alors que [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] et US Airways ont engagé des discussions en vue d'une fusion qui pourrait créer la deuxième compagnie aérienne des Etats-Unis, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] et Iberia ont annoncé, jeudi, avoir signé leur accord définitif de fusion, attendu depuis leurs fiançailles en novembre.

Les termes de ce contrat de mariage sont conformes au protocole d'accord signé entre les deux compagnies le
12 novembre.

La fusion entre Iberia et British Airways devrait être achevée à la fin de l'année.

Elle nécessitera l'accord des actionnaires des deux entreprises, qui devront se prononcer lors d'assemblées générales prévues en novembre.

L'opération, qui donnera naissance à une entité pesant pas loin de 6 milliards d'euros en Bourse, permet enfin à British Airways de mettre la main sur un concurrent plus petit et de marcher ainsi sur les pas de Lufthansa et d'[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Avec une flotte de plus de quatre cents appareils desservant deux cent cinq destinations et transportant plus de 58 millions de passagers par an, le nouveau groupe devrait réaliser un chiffre d'affaires d'environ 13,5 milliards de livres (15 milliards d'euros). Les deux entreprises vont se regrouper au sein d'une nouvelle holding, qui s'appellera [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] SA, ou "International Airlines Group" en abrégé, et sera cotée à Londres et à Madrid.

Mais, comme il était déjà prévu dans le protocole d'accord, les deux compagnies poursuivront leurs activités de manière autonome et continueront d'opérer sous leurs marques existantes.

Comme déjà annoncé, ce rapprochement devrait permettre de dégager des synergies annuelles estimées à 400 millions
d'euros, au bout de cinq ans.

Comme prévu, la fusion se fera par échange d'actions.

Les actionnaires de BA recevront une action d'[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Group pour chaque action BA, et ceux d'Iberia 1,0205 action de la holding pour chaque action Iberia qu'ils détenaient.

Ce qui revient à donner autour de 55 % du capital de la nouvelle entreprise aux actionnaires de BA, et 45 % à ceux d'Iberia. Les deux compagnies soulignent que le nouveau groupe a été structuré de manière à "tirer partie d'une consolidation supplémentaire du secteur aérien mondial".

Iberia conserve le droit de renoncer à cette fusion, si elle jugeait que la question du déficit du fonds de retraite de BA, en cours de règlement, n'était pas conclue de manière satisfaisante.

Iberia et BA, toutes deux membres de l'alliance Oneworld, mûrissaient leur rapprochement depuis 2008, après que BA
eut échoué à racheter Iberia en 2007.

Les deux compagnies disposent déjà de participations croisées, Iberia possédant 9 % de BA et BA 13 % d'Iberia.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Richard Branson, le fondateur du groupe Virgin et notamment de la compagnie aérienne Virgin Atlantic, a estimé lundi que la Commission européenne avait une approche "paresseuse" du rapprochement entre British Airways, American Airlines et Iberia, qu'il estime être une fusion pure et simple.

2010 AFP

We actuallybelieve the Commission should just say : No way BA-AA

Vicant2 a écrit:Sir R.Branson met AA dans la boucle aussi

Voire ses déclarations au FT et sa menace d'action en justice

We actuallybelieve the Commission should just say : No way BA-AA

Je ne retrouve pas le lien FT.

Vicant2 a écrit:Avec qui Virgin Atlantic pourrait s'associer pour ne pas se retrouver isolé ?

BRUXELLES, 19 avril (Reuters) -

La Commission européenne décidera d'ici juillet si elle autorise le projet de British Airways, American Airlines et Iberia de renforcer leur alliance Oneworld.

Prié de dire quand une décision était attendue, le commissaire européen à la Concurrence Joaquin Almunia a répondu à Reuters: "En juin ou en juillet".

La CE étudie les résultats d'un test de marché après les aménagements proposés par les trois compagnies aériennes le mois dernier.

Elles proposent de céder des créneaux sur les lignes Londres-Dallas, Londres-Boston, Londres-Miami et peut-être Londres-New York si les conditions du marché changent.

"La tendance à la consolidation dans ce secteur est une réalité, que nous soutenons", avait dit auparavant Joaquin
Almunia.

Le département des Transports américain avait donné un feu vert provisoire à l'alliance renforcée en février.

(Foo Yun Chee, Wilfrid Exbrayat pour le service français, édité par Gilles Guillaume)

MADRID, 29 juin (Reuters) -

Iberia a annoncé mardi avoir signé l'accord de fusion avec British Airways , un rapprochement qui donnera naissance à la troisième compagnie aérienne mondiale.

La compagnie espagnole appose sa signature au bas d'un texte, qui avait défini en avril dernier, une semaine après que son homologue britannique a annoncé avoir conclu un accord destiné à combler le déficit de 3,7 milliards de livres de son régime de retraites.

L'opération, qui verra les actionnaires de British Airways prendre 55% du nouvel ensemble, doit encore être avalisée par les actionnaires, ce qui devrait intervenir en novembre.

Iberia dispose par ailleurs d'une clause de sortie de trois mois, toujours liée à son appréciation de la capacité de British Airways à résorber le déficit de son régime de retraites, un point qui a déjà par le passé failli faire capoter le projet de fusion.

"Iberia dispose de trois mois pour sortir du projet dès le moment où l'accord (conclu entre British Airways et les
gestionnaires du fonds des retraites) est soumis à l'autorité de régulation des retraites britannique", précise Iberia.

(Jonathan Gleave, Benoit Van Overstraeten pour le service français)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has obtained European clearance for its planned merger with Iberia, on the same day as the two carriers secured approval for their transatlantic tie-up with Oneworld partner American Airlines.

The European Commission had examined the potential impact on routes from London to both Madrid and Barcelona.
But it says its inquiries showed the merged airlines would "continue to face sufficient competition from other carriers".

Regulators also studied several short- and long-haul routes on which BA and Iberia each offered one-stop connections, or a one-stop alternative to their partner's non-stop flight.

The Commission says the combined airlines will also face "enough" competition on these routes, and adds that the transaction will not affect competition in the ground-handling, maintenance or freight markets.

As a result, says the Commission, the merger between BA and Iberia will "not significantly impede competition" in the European Economic Area.
BA says the unconditional approval, which follows regulatory clearance from US authorities last month, marks "another important step" towards completion of the merger.
It plans to complete the merger with Iberia by the end of this year.

Oneworld carriers [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], American Airlines and Iberia have received clearance from the European Commission for their proposed transatlantic tie-up.
The decision follows commitments from the airlines offered in order to allay competition concerns over their planned joint venture.
In a statement the Commission says it has "made legally binding" the commitments from the carriers.

Among the concessions offered by the carriers were slots at London Heathrow to allow the entry or expansion of competitors on routes to the US cities of New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami.
"After a market test, the Commission concluded that the commitments offered were suitable to remedy the competition concerns and has closed its investigation," the Commission says.

Members of the Oneworld alliance predict a significant battle will ensue during the next two-to-three months among the three large global alliances to secure membership from the merged LAN and TAM airlines.

Oneworld managing director John McCulloch made that declaration today during the annual International Aviation Forecast summit hosted by the Boyd Group International.
McCulloch states he feels pretty certain that despite "rhetoric out there", that the carrier will only select a single alliance partner.

LAN and TAM unveiled their plans to merge in August of this year, and have previously said they wouldn't settle on an alliance decision until 2012, but McCulloch tells ATI "they seem well ahead of the timetable" in their integration, and from Oneworld's perspective, it is important now for the group to begin making its case to the carriers.

TAM joined Star in May of this year while LAN is a long-standing member of Oneworld, joining the alliance in 2000.

McCulloch says Oneworld will try to persuade LAN-TAM that choosing the grouping will give the combined Latin American carrier a key footprint in Europe and the USA, which are "crucial for LAN-TAM's future profitability".
He also believes Oneworld has insight into other areas where the combined carrier would like to grow, citing the UK and Spain as examples. "We can play to those strengths," he says.

In parallel to the battle for LAN-TAM's alliance allegiance, Oneworld continues to pursue opportunities in Brazil, Canada and China. The alliance lost a key contest earlier this year when China Eastern opted to join the SkyTeam grouping. McCulloch believes that Oneworld had the better value proposition for China Eastern, but certain "leadership ambitions within the airline" led to the carrier's selection of SkyTeam.

While Canada's second largest carrier WestJet has repeatedly stated its desire not to formally join one of the three major alliance groupings and instead focus on building as many bilateral relationships as possible, McCulloch states that there are six-to-eight Oneworld members that could forge important bilateral relationships with WestJet.
American and WestJet on 19 October announced an interline agreement whose first phase will cover 25 of WestJet's Canadian destinations not currently served by American.

Oneworld is also celebrating the recent launch of the transatlantic joint venture of American, British Airways and Iberia. As the new venture gets off the ground McCulloch says Oneworld is ramping up its corporate selling push, something he admits Star partners United, Air Canada and Lufthansa have historically performed better at than Oneworld.

Shareholders of both British Airways and Spain's national carrier Iberia have approved the merger between the two companies.

The tie-up, agreed in April, will create Europe's second-largest carrier after Air France-KLM, with a market value of around £4.5bn ($7.5bn; 5.3bn euros).
The new company will be called International Airlines Group (IAG).
The separate BA and Iberia brands will continue to operate as normal.

However, BA shares will no longer be listed on the London stock exchange after the new year.
Ninety-nine per cent of BA shareholders voted in favour of the deal, which has already been approved by the regulators.

Heavy losses

BA shareholders will take 56% of the newly-merged company and Willie Walsh will retain his position as chief executive.
Iberia's shareholders will own 44%, and its current president, Antonio Vazquez, will become chairman.
Mr Vazquez suggested that the merged operator may bring other airlines into the partnership, saying that the deal with BA was an "historical agreement that will create a global group to lead a future consolidation process in the airline business."

The airlines expect the merger to be completed on 21 January, with shares in the new company listing in London and Madrid on 24 January.

British Airways shareholders will receive shares in the new company. This will be on a like-for- like basis so that if you own 100 BA shares now, for example, you will own 100 IAG shares on 24 January.
The new company will have its headquarters in Madrid, and its operational offices will be in London.
The companies hope that the merger will lead to millions of pounds in savings over the next five years.

LONDRES, 21 jan 2011 (AFP)Un nouveau champion européen du transport aérien, International Airlines Group (IAG), est né vendredi de la fusion des compagnies britannique British Air
ways et espagnole Iberia, affichant d'emblée de grandes ambitions dans un secteur en perpétuelle recomposition.

2011 AFP

British Airways and Iberia will combine their cargo business and network into a single business unit reporting to International Airlines Group although both cargo operations will retain their current brands, the carriers and IAG announced last week. There will be a small cargo management team within IAG, while all other cargo employees will continue to work for their current airline. The combined business will be led by MD Steve Gunning and Deputy MD Ignacio Diez Barturen. They were previously managing directors of BA World Cargo and Iberia Cargo, respectively.

Le groupe aérien hispano-britannique International Airlines Group (IAG), issu de la fusion de British Airways et d'Iberia, a annoncé vendredi avoir transporté 4,53 millions de passagers en juin, soit 3,8% que les compagnies fondatrices un an plus tôt.

2011 AFP