Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11109 – IAG / AIR EUROPA)
Date: 2023-12-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: air transport, carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, economic concentration, holding company, merger control, multinational enterprise, provision of services, subsidiary








C_202301582EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/1582


18.12.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11109 – IAG / AIR EUROPA)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/1582)


1.   
On 11 December 2023, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. (‘IAG’, Spain and UK),










—


Air Europa Holding, S.L. (‘Air Europa’, Spain), controlled by Globalia Corporación Empresarial, S.A. (‘Globalia’, Spain).




IAG will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Air Europa.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.
The same concentration was already notified to the Commission on 25 May 2021, but the notification was subsequently withdrawn on 16 December 2021.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


IAG is a multinational airline holding company that incorporates the Spanish carrier Iberia and the Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling, as well as the UK carrier British Airways, the Irish carrier Aer Lingus, and the Barcelona-based long-haul airline LEVEL. IAG is also the parent company of IAG Cargo. IAG is also active in the supply of airport ground handling, maintenance, repair and overhaul, landside cargo and flight simulation training services. IAG is a publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange with secondary listings on Spanish Stock Exchanges. British Airways and Iberia are members of the oneworld alliance,










—


Air Europa is also active in the supply of air transport for passengers and air transport for cargo. Air Europa is a subsidiary of Globalia, a Spanish family-owned tourism group.






3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.



4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.11109 – IAG / AIR EUROPA
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  
            OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1582/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)