EU cold about Iberia’s Air Europa acquisition

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition is reportedly scrutinizing the proposed acquisition of Air Europa by Iberia, which was announced as a deal in February 2023.

Sources close to the matter have said that the deal “didn’t look good” and that there are concerns that competition could be severely limited in key markets, particularly domestically in Spain and in routes between Spain and Latin America.

While low-cost carriers could potentially compete on domestic and European routes, it may be more difficult for new operators to compete with the merged airline in the transatlantic market, where both Iberia and Air Europa have deployed a significant amount of their long-haul capacity.

Although the terms of the deal have been widely publicized, the companies have yet to file the relevant documentation with the European authorities to obtain full control of Air Europa.