By Joanna Plucinska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The IAG air group plans to sell its 20% stake in the Spanish airline Air Europa while Air France -KLM and Lufthansa are both interested in a takeover, the director general of IAG in Reuters told Reuters.
This decision comes as European airlines call for increased consolidation in the sector, with a particular interest in key roads in southern Europe as part of their expansion.
Iag will decide when Globalia, the owner of Air Europa, himself makes a decision on the fate of the airline, said Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG on Thursday. “We can stay or leave.”
Iag had canceled an agreement to buy Air Europa last year, after having failed to convince European competition regulators that its remedies proposals were sufficient.
Luis Gallego said that IIAG was still interested in stake in the Portuguese company TAP, because he seeks to continue a double hub strategy in the Iberian area, with Madrid and Lisbon as key points.
However, the elections in Portugal should delay the sale of TAP, which means that the conditions for a possible agreement are not yet clear.
“If the current government remains in place, I think the process will be delayed by two or three months,” said Luis Gallego.
“What we need is not only a participation, but also the freedom to manage the company,” he added.
(Report Joanna Plucinska, Noémie Naudin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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