European airline consolidation: the stuff of dreams
What is happening in European airline consolidation?
Turkish Airlines is to take a minority stake in Air Europa. Air France-KLM will increase its minority holding in SAS to a controlling stake. Air France-KLM, Lufthansa Group and IAG and possibly others are interested in buying up to 45% of TAP Air Portugal.
Lufthansa has a minority stake in ITA Airways and is expected to take control at some point in the future; it also has 10% of airBaltic.
This gives the impression of an industry that is finally consolidating.
However, these deals entail airlines with only a small market share, and most involve only minority stakes. The target airlines mainly have an intra-Europe seat share of just 1% or less. The biggest, SAS, has 2.8%.
It takes Europe's top 21 airline groups to match the 86% seat share of the top seven in North America, where consolidation has improved profitability. Recreating North American market concentration in Europe would need deals between the largest European groups.
As illustrated in this report, this remains a fantasy. What is happening in European airline consolidation?
Not enough, but we can dream.
Become a CAPA Member to access Analysis Reports
Our Analysis Reports are only available to CAPA Members. CAPA Membership provides exclusive access to in-depth insights on the latest developments in the aviation and travel industry, developed by our team of dedicated analysts located in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Each report offers a fresh perspective on the latest industry trends and is available online or via the CAPA mobile app, with customisable alerts to help you stay informed and identify new business opportunities.
CAPA Membership also provides access to our full suite of tools, including a tailored selection of more than 1,000 News Briefs every week and comprehensive data and analysis on thousands of companies around the world.