Air Europa is preparing to continue flying solo as an airline and this Friday it has announced the repayment of the entire loan guaranteed by the ICO, after the IAG group, of which Iberia is a part, announced this past Thursday that it was giving up buying Air Europa due to the conditions imposed by the European Union on the operation.
In a statement, Air Europa has stated that the solidity and viability of its business project allows it to face a sustainable future in the long term and has cited the good economic forecasts for this year, the expansion of the fleet and the optimization of operations.
The airline, acquired in 1991 by businessman Juan José Hidalgo, states in that statement that it is not oblivious to the instability presented by certain markets nor to the delays in the delivery of new aircraft, but will continue to apply its Strategic Plan 2024-2026.
Juan José Hidalgo, also president of the Globalia group, which includes Air Europa, expressed this Friday, in an interview with OK Diario, his relief at the failure of the purchase of the airline by Iberia, while stating that it is the best for Spain and for Madrid in terms of competition.
Iberia's withdrawal from the purchase means an inflow of funds of 125 million euros for Air Europa, which IAG, Iberia's parent company, will pay, since in addition to the 50 million that it must pay Air Europa now for the withdrawal, there are another 75 million that it had to pay when the transaction was frustrated for the first time in 2021.
The purchase of Air Europa by Iberia had been open since 2019, when the agreed price amounted to 1,000 million euros, but the emergence of the covid pandemic and Brussels' objections to the concentration of frequencies and routes that the operation entailed have ruled it out.
Air Europa has announced that in the coming days it will return the entire loan of 141 million euros granted by a banking syndicate led by Santander and guaranteed by the ICO, of which around 50 million remain outstanding.
Sources from the Globalia airline have explained to EFE that of that ICO loan, granted to deal with the ravages of the pandemic, 87 million of principal and about 20 million of interest have already been returned and it will be completely canceled "in the next few days".
Transfer of routes
IAG, Iberia's parent company, argued this Thursday to abandon the purchase of Air Europa, the impositions of Brussels in the transfer of routes, which were so high that they made the operation unfeasible from a business point of view.
This same Friday, the vice president of the Community Executive responsible for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement that the purchase of Air Europa by Iberia was at this time, even, more complicated than when the operation was attempted for the first time in 2021.
Vestager stated that the sale of routes that IAG offered in conversations with community authorities to resolve concerns about competition posed by the transaction "did not fully resolve" the doubts.
These routes that could be released with the purchase of Air Europa by Iberia were of interest to the airlines Volotea and Avianca, which, after Iberia's decision not to buy Air Europa, have paralyzed the creation of a 'joint venture' or joint venture to capture the Air Europa routes that Iberia would have disposed of to obtain the approval of the European authorities.
Volotea sources have told Agencia EFE that they "regret" that the operation has not gone ahead, as it represented "a unique opportunity for the sector and for our country."
Last June, Volotea and the Abra Group (to which the Colombian Avianca and the Brazilian Gol belong) agreed to create this joint venture to take over the Air Europa routes that Brussels demanded be transferred to Iberia to approve the purchase, an agreement that meant complementing the short radius offered by Volotea and the long radius of Avianca, leader in Colombia, Ecuador and Central America, and Gol, leader in Brazil.
On the contrary, consumer and user organizations have celebrated this Friday that the purchase of Air Europa by Iberia has not gone ahead, as they believe that it would have increased air fares.
The Balearic Government has also expressed its satisfaction, which, through its spokesperson and Minister of Economy, Antoni Costa, has stated that it is good news that Iberia does not buy Air Europa, which is based in Mallorca, because the current situation favors free competition and benefits travelers.
Meanwhile, IAG - a group that includes the airlines Iberia, British Airways, Vu-eling, Aer Lingus and Level - which has been the only one of the large European airline groups to close the first semester with positive results (905 million in profits), has been the company of the Spanish selective, Íbex 35, that has risen the most.
Its shares have risen in today's session by 3.32%, to 1.959 euros and in the year they have risen by 9.97%.
