Spanish Conquerors for Air Europa: Consolidation Continues

The challenges of being a mid-size carrier in a market seeking consolidation probably accounted for Air Europa’s decision to accept the latest offer from IAG. Whilst some 44 aircraft in operation and an order book of 30 suggests Air Europa is an airline of some scale, its 1% share of Western European airline capacity places them in the same space as carriers such as Aer Lingus.

The planned acquisition does however have some interesting aspects both within the Spanish domestic market, and also the South American market where the Madrid hub of both airlines dominates many traffic flows.

Whilst Ryanair are the largest single airline operating today from Spain with 17.4% of capacity, the combined capacity for Vueling, Iberia and now Air Europa equates to some 38.6%. Add in the British Airways and Aer Lingus parts of the IAG business and that share increases to 40.5%.

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