The airline is deployed to the US to recover from losses and return to 2019 profitability, transporting 1.5 million people to this country in the summer alone
Iberia is now closer to acquiring Air Europa, its medium-term strategic objective. The SEPI (State Company for Industrial Participations) has already approved the EUR 100 million loan granted by IAG to Globalia, owner of Air Europa, thus this first step to acquire 20% of the airline’s shares. It’s already underway and could be “in about six months,” as confirmed this Thursday by Iberia president and CEO Javier Sánchez-Prieto, during the presentation in Washington of his transformation plan.
“The ultimate goal is to acquire 100% of the company,” said Sánchez-Prieto, who calculated that this could be achieved in about 18 months. This operation, announced in November 2019 for €1,000 million, has seen several ups and downs due to the severe impact of the pandemic on both airlines. SEPI sits on Air Europa’s board of directors after providing it with two loans of EUR 475 million, along with that of the bank’s EUR 140 million and guaranteed by the ICO in its state plan to rescue strategic companies.
And as the tourism sector recovers from the crisis, Iberia has decided to launch a strong offensive in the United States to restore profitability and clean up accounts hit by restrictions on inter-country traffic, which forced them to borrow. “to cover losses” Sanchez – noted Prieto. Although the airline is not disclosing the total debt it faces, the president explained that the most important part is the credit requested from the ICO, which is more than 800 million euros, 1,100 million if the part from Vueling is added. , whose commitments are set for 2025. and 2026.
A demand recovery for this summer that will raise ticket prices, “in accordance with the law of supply and demand, which works like clockwork” in price fluctuations, the airline’s president assured. Added to this is high inflation and the rise in the oil price. “We try to offer very competitive prices because the sector is if you don’t give adjusted prices, you don’t sell,” acknowledged Sánchez Prieto, who assured that the price increases on Iberia will not be very important because the company has fuel. deliveries for this year and the next of 78% and 25% respectively.
In this commitment to the United States as a way out of the red, the company this Wednesday inaugurated the Madrid-Washington and Madrid-Dallas routes, in addition to reopening the pandemic-crippled Madrid-San Francisco. With these three, there are already nine destinations in the United States, with 120 weekly flights, with New York, Miami, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago as already established routes in the portfolio. In this way, it consolidates itself as the leading airline between Spain and the US, with a 6% more market share in capacity than in 2019. In addition, in these two years of the pandemic, the airline has gained an 8% market share per passenger. All in all, it will exceed 1.5 million seats between Spain and the US this summer.
In this international context, the company remains firmly committed to Latin America, with double daily flights to the main capitals such as Bogotá, Buenos Aires or Mexico. In addition, it has recovered all its destinations in Europe and at the national level has increased its capacity compared to 2019 in some national markets such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. So the forecast is to reach “very similar” capacity figures to 2019, even 4% above that in terms of take-offs, detailed by the airline.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
