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International Consolidated Airlines Group (known as IAG) may ask its Spanish airline Iberia to stay firm on a tough cost-cutting programme.

It is speculated that the group may be concerned by a new ”Plan B” presented by Iberia to its labour trade unions. The plan consists of reducing lay-offs from the initial 4,500 to 3,800.

When the initial restructuring plan was announced on November 9th, there was an initial deadline of January 31st. Although Iberia has stated that the deadline is not strict, an upcoming board meeting is expected to be the last before an official restructuring announcement.

Loss-making Iberia on Friday announced plans to axe 4,500 jobs to save Spain’s biggest airline from collapse and warned more cuts could follow against the backdrop of economic crisis in the Eurozone country.

To stem Iberia’s cash losses by mid-2013, the Spanish airline plans to slash its network capacity by 15 percent and downsize its fleet by 25 aircraft, including five long-haul jets.

Separately on Friday, IAG announced that the parent group’s net profits dropped 24 percent in the third quarter compared with the equivalent period last year, hit by losses at Iberia.

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) is making a cash tender offer to buy 100 per cent of the share Vueling, the Spanish low-cost airline based in Barcelona.

IAG’s subsidiary Iberia owns 45.85% of Vueling’s shares currently and the Iberia board has agreed not to tender them in the offer. This means that Iberia would retain its shareholding in Vueling with IAG seeking to acquire the remaining 54.15%.

The offer will be €7.00 per ordinary share of Vueling with the total cost of acquiring 54.15% anticipated to be €113m. It will be funded using internal IAG resources.

New Spanish budget airline Iberia Express is considering entering the German market, and could be flying from Berlin or Frankfurt to Spanish coastal resorts before the end of this year.

Pilots from parent airline Iberia have been striking since December in protest at what they see as a piecemeal outsourcing of their jobs.

The budget airline is projected to save Iberia company €100 million by 2015, much of it recouped from staff costs that will see Iberia Express pilots pocket on average €4,000 a month less than their colleagues at the main airline.

source: thelocal.de

Iberia is looking to slash pilots’ pay by a fifth as it takes a hard line in its battle with their union over cost cuts and the launch of a budget carrier to compete with the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet.

Alongside the pay cut, which includes an across-the-board reduction in pay scales and changes to perks for pilots with 15 years’ seniority, the airline is proposing to increase the number of hours pilots are expected to fly every year and eliminate extra holidays for senior staff.

source: FT.com

Spain’s Iberia has launched a new entry in Europe’s competitive market for low-cost airlines.

Iberia Express will cover Spanish cities including Madrid and the islands such as Ibiza, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

he low-cost Iberia Express has 500 staff and has a fleet of four Airbus A320 aircraft, according to Iberia Express chief executive Luis Gallego.

source: BBC.co.uk

Spain’s Iberia has launched a new entry in Europe’s competitive market for low-cost airlines.

The new airline, Iberia Express, begins on Sunday with prices starting at 25 euros (£21) for a one-way ticket.

Iberia Express will cover Spanish cities including Madrid and the islands such as Ibiza, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

The launch comes after Spain’s fourth-largest airline Spanair collapsed in January, stranding 20,000 passengers.

source: BBC.co.uk

Spanish airline Iberia‘s new low-cost carrier Iberia Express, whose creation has been stiffly opposed by unions, will operate its first flight on March 25, company president Antonio Vasquez said Monday.

Iberia argues the move is needed to help it compete with other low-cost carriers but employees of the airline fear it will lead to job losses and lower salaries.

Iberia says the pilots’ strikes later this month would cause 289 flight cancellations over the three days, mostly within Spain and Europe.

source: Expatica.com

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) said passenger traffic rose 7.2 percent last year as a surge in growth at British Airways made up for almost static demand at its Madrid-based Iberia division.

Traffic increased 10.6 percent at BA, while Iberia posted a gain of 0.1 percent, IAG said today in a statement. The U.K. unit accounted for almost 70 percent of total traffic, a measure of the number of passengers carried times the distance flown.

British Airways increased capacity 9.8 percent during the 12 months, with Iberia adding only 1.2 percent more seats.

source: Bloomberg.com

Spanish airline Iberia has cancelled more than a third of its flights due to a strike by pilots fearing job losses when company planes are diverted for use by Iberia’s planned new budget carrier.

Iberia said it scrapped 118 domestic and international flights on Thursday but found seats on other Iberia flights or with other carriers for all the 10,000 travellers affected by the one-day strike.

It was the second such holiday-season walkout by the pilots.

source: Press Association