British Airways/Iberia merger starts out well on London Stock Exchange

LONDON - The merger between what were once the national airlines of Spain (Iberia) and Britain (British Airways) was presented at the London Stock Exchange this morning. Stock in the new company resulting from the merger, International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., or IAG for short, sold for £2.85 at closing. In Madrid, where the stock is also quoted, prices went down slightly from the start, closing at €3,31, four centimos less than at opening. The prices place IAG as the second European airline in terms of stock value (€6,300 million), after the German Lufthansa (€7,150 million). Nevertheless, in terms of income, number of passengers and kilometers transported, IAG is third after Air France-KLM and Lufthansa in that order, although stock exchanges do not use these clasifications.>Willie Walsh, who becomes Managing Director of the new company (with Antonio Vázquez, former President of Iberia and now of IAG), said at this morning's press conference that BA and Iberia are the first two airlines in iag, but will not be the last. "This is only the first step towards creating a multinational and multi-brand airline," he added.

One fly in the ointment of smiles and good wishes, however, comes from Iberia, which faces the merger at the point of breaking off negotiations with its pilots union SEPLA that were aimed at its new collective agreement. A union spokesperson said that "Negotiations are exhausted" because the company, which will continue to operate separately from its new partner, "had brought no new proposals to the table."

Iberia's relations with its pilots have traditionally been fraught with disputes and 'bad blood', although until now, close to the merger, things had seemed to have improved considerably.