19-Mar-2010 12:21 PM
British Airways and Iberia to approve merger on 25-Mar-2010: reports
British Airways and Iberia will reportedly approve the merger of the two airlines on 25-Mar-2010 (Expansion/ABTN/Reuters, 18-Mar-2010). Last month, Iberia Chairman, Antonio Vazquez, stated an agreement would be reached within weeks, with a merger to be finalised before the end of 2010. The two airlines signed a preliminary agreement in Nov-2009, after more than a year of negotations, but Iberia, at the time, stated it would withdraw from the agreement if British Airways' pension deficit was not resolved. A tie-up between Iberia and BA would create Europe's second-largest airline by market capitalisation after Lufthansa, combining Iberia's strong presence in Latin America with British Airways' position in North America, Asia and Africa.