International Airlines Group (IAG)

The holding was formed in January 2011 as a result of the merger of British Airways and Iberia, the flagship carriers of Great Britain and Spain, respectively. In 2013, Vueling became part of the holding. In 2019, Air Europa was purchased.

IAG has its operational headquarters, which oversees the management of both its Spanish and British subsidiaries. The holding is registered in Spain. Board meetings are held in Madrid, the company's "tax registration" is also in Spain

Aktivs

2022: In operation for May - 616 aircraft

Число planes operation in some airlines as of May 26, 2022. For comparison, Aeroflot's indicator in early 2022 is 243 aircraft

2011: In operation for June - 347 aircraft

As of June 30, 2011, the IAG holding operated an air fleet of 347 aircraft, an additional 71 airliners were ordered from manufacturers and an option was placed for another 86 cars. The most used type of aircraft is the Airbus A320 series (125 units).

Performance indicators

According to the 2010 results, IAG ranked seventh among all airlines in the world and third in Europe in terms of income.

History

2022: Court orders Vueling to refund state for discount fraud

Vueling at the end of 2022 was sentenced by Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid (TSJM) to return almost half a million euros for violations in the application of discounts to passengers living in the Canary and Balearic Islands, in Ceuta and Melilla.

As a result of the inspections, it was found that in 2022 14% bonuses were used fraudulently and, therefore, should be returned to the state.

In its justification, the airline claims that in accordance with the current rules, it is travel agencies (and there are 58 of them), and not it, are obliged to keep records, and that these organizations are responsible for registration, while the airline is limited to the transportation of passengers.

2021: 1st place in the purchase of jet fuel in Russia

As of 2021

2020: Plan for an agreement with American Express to pay $955 million to buy Avios points

In July 2020, the British holding International Airlines Group announced that American Express is ready to pay 750 million pounds sterling ($955 million) to renew the partnership, which will provide airlines experiencing cash problems with long-awaited funding.

The multi-year agreement with payment company American Express implies that the latter will pay IAG to buy Avios points, which participants in bonus programs can use to buy air tickets.

If even a partnership deal worth £750m does not save the company, it will give it a break: Goodbody analysts note that the news of the deal was positive, as IAG's liquidity could fall to €4bn since the last update.

2019: Purchase of Air Europa

In November 2019, it was announced that the IAG holding bought the Spanish airline Air Europa for 1 billion euros. The holding already owns the Spanish airline Iberia.

The IAG said the deal opens up new prospects for Madrid, which could compete with Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris.

IAG is confident that the purchase of a Spanish airline will help the holding take a leading position in the air transportation market not only in Europe, but also in Latin America.

2014

In June 2014, during a meeting of shareholders of IAG holding, which unites Iberia, British Airways (BA) and Vueling, its president Antonio Vazquez said that the company intends to continue to remain "one of the leaders in the consolidation" of the aviation sector.

"Our priority is to build a more powerful holding, but that doesn't mean it has to get bigger," Vázquez was quoted as saying by Spanish news agencies.

Vazquez stressed that IAG now includes three companies with the best positions in the Spanish market, and this makes the holding "a much more attractive, reliable and prepared partner in the face of any possible consolidation in the future."^[1].

In turn, IAG CEO Willie Walsh noted the value of the achievements of Iberia, which has carried out "one of the deepest restructuring ever made in the sector." Thanks to her, the airline became one of the most competitive in the transatlantic transportation market.

Speaking about Vueling, which became part of the holding in 2013, Walsh noted that the carrier showed impressive results, increasing both the number of passengers and the size of the profit. According to him, the active growth of the enterprise will allow the holding to strengthen its presence on domestic flights and routes in Europe.

In addition, Walsh stressed that one of the main tasks of the holding was discipline - both in terms of increasing the number of seats on flights and in terms of investment.

opened new routes and ordered new aircraft when there was clear demand. In addition, we invested in new products and services only if we could make a profit exceeding the size of investments, "concluded the CEO of the company

2011

The airline merger ended on January 21, 2011.

Placement of shares on exchanges

On January 24, 2011, the aircraft holding went through the procedure of initial placement of shares on the London Stock Exchange, entering the list of the hundred largest companies on the exchange, according to the capitalization of which its main FTSE 100 index is calculated. The holding shares have a secondary placement on the stock exchanges of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, and on April 1, 2011, the holding was included in the list of companies for which the key Spanish stock index IBEX 35 is calculated.

In March 2011, IAG announced its intention to purchase eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft and place an option on eight more airliners of the same type, which will be used to operate long-haul flights in Iberia.

Creating Iberia Express

On October 6, 2011, the holding's management announced the creation of a subsidiary of Iberia Express - a new low-cost airline, the route network of which will extend to short and medium-haul destinations to transit hubs (hubs) of the holding's main air carriers. Iberia Express began operations on March 25, 2012.

British Midland International purchase

On November 4, 2011, IAG agreed in principle to the acquisition of British Midland International (BMI) from the German airline Lufthansa (the purchase amount was not announced), which would increase the number of slots at London Heathrow Airport from 45% to 54% in domestic and international destinations. On 22 December 2011, the directors of both carriers announced the final purchase/sale amount of £172.5 million. The deal was completed in April 2012, the end of the integration of the BMI route network into the British Airways route schedule was planned by the end of 2012.

2010: British Airways and Iberia merger agreement

In April 2010, British Airways and Iberia signed a merger agreement, after which the end date of the merger was officially announced - the end of 2010, subject to the necessary formalities, including taking into account the approval of the Commission on Anti-Monopoly Policy of the European Union.

2009: Preliminary merger agreement between British Airways and Iberia

In November 2009, British Airways and Iberia announced the signing of a preliminary merger agreement.

Notes