Air Europa: История и современность испанской авиакомпании

Spanish airline

Air Europa Líneas Aéreas, S. A. U., branded as Air Europa, is the third largest Spanish airline after Iberia and Vueling. The airline is headquartered in Llucmajor, Mallorca, Spain; it has its main hub at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport with focus city operations at Palma de Mallorca Airport and Tenerife North Airport. Air Europa flies to over 44 destinations in Spain, the rest of Europe, South America, North America, the Caribbean, Morocco and Tunisia. It originally had a similar livery to Air Europe but with Air Europa titles and its aircraft were registered in Spain. It flew holiday charters from Mediterranean resorts and European cities using Boeing 737 300s and Boeing 757s. It was the first Spanish private company to operate national scheduled flights (besides charter flights which used to be its main business). When parent company ILG ceased trading in 1991 Air Europa continued profitably with a larger fleet of Boeing 737s and 757s. It signed a franchise agreement with Iberia in January 1998, but this has since been dissolved. It is now owned by Globalia Corporación Empresarial S. A. At the end of the 1990s, Boeing 737 800 jets were introduced along with a new livery. In June 2005, it was announced Air Europa was among four future associate members of the SkyTeam alliance, due to join by 2006. However, the joining date was postponed, and it did not become a member until 1 September 2007. Air Europa was the parent company for Air Dominicana, the new flag carrier of the Dominican Republic, until bankruptcy was declared on September 21, 2009.

Air Europa retired its last Boeing 767 on April 13, 2012. On May 22, 2019, the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) granted Air Europa permission to operate domestic flights in the country. This was the first time a foreign company was granted such authorisation, after Brazilian laws were changed to allow full foreign ownership of domestic airlines. As of June 2019, no details were available about Air Europa's future domestic operations in Brazil, a market which the airline already serves with international flights from Madrid to Salvador and Recife.

On November 4, 2019, International Airlines Group announced plans to acquire Air Europa from Globalia for €1 billion ($1.1 billion) with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2020. At the time, Air Europa operated a fleet of 66 aircraft and had generated an operating profit of €100 million in 2018. IAG stated its intention to integrate Air Europa into Iberia while indefinitely retaining the brand. IAG expected to see an ROI by the fourth year with full synergy by 2025 including inter group codeshares, bank timing adjustments at Madrid Airport, and sales and loyalty program alignment. In January 2021 amid the COVID 19 pandemic, the parties agreed to cut the transaction price in half to €500 million. However, in August 2022, IAG converted a loan to Air Europa into a 20% shareholding. In February 2023, IAG agreed to buy Air Europa for €400 million, with the brand to remain intact despite IAG's plans to make it part of Iberia. The decision followed interventions by the Spanish government, a key proponent of the merger. According to IAG, the merger will allow for the launch of Asia flights from the Madrid hub, which the Spanish government has advocated for. If the deal is approved by regulators, then once the merger is complete, Air Europa is expected to exit the SkyTeam alliance and join other IAG members as part of Oneworld. In January 2024, the European Commission said the deal could reduce competition on domestic routes in Spain and short haul routes from Madrid to other major cities in Europe and the Mediterranean. The EU competition enforcer also cited concerns over long haul routes between Madrid and the Americas. In February 2024, Reuters reported that IAG was likely to be hit with an EU antitrust warning, suggesting that regulators found IAG's proposed remedies to be insufficient to alleviate competition concerns.

Air Europa operates tour services between northern and western Europe and holiday resorts in the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. It also operates domestic scheduled services and long haul scheduled services to North America and South America from Madrid. Its hub is Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas Airport.