Air Europa

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;^[3][4][5][6] it has its main hub at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport with focus city operations at Palma de Mallorca Airport and Tenerife North Airport.^[2][7][8] Air Europa flies to over 44 destinations in Spain, the rest of Europe, South America, North America, the Caribbean, Morocco and Tunisia.^[9][2] Since September 2007, Air Europa has been member of the SkyTeam alliance.

Air Europa

IATA ICAO Callsign UX AEA EUROPA
Founded	1986; 38 years ago (1986)
AOC #	ES.AOC.004^[1]
Hubs	Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport
Focus cities	Palma de Mallorca Airport Tenerife North Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Suma
Alliance	SkyTeam
Subsidiaries	Air Europa Express
Fleet size	43
Destinations	44^[2]
Parent company	Globalia
Headquarters	Llucmajor, Mallorca, Spain
Key people	Juan José Hidalgo, Chairman and CEO
Employees	2,949 (5 March 2014)
Website	www.aireuropa.com

History

Early years

Air Europa started in 1986 (registered in Spain as Air España SA and previously known as such) as part of the British ILG-Air Europe Group and 75% owned by Spanish banks.^[10] 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).^[11]

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

Developments since 2010

Air Europa retired its last Boeing 767 on April 13, 2012.^[14]

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.^[15]

Proposed acquisition by International Airlines Group

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.^[16][2] Plans for a merger were scrapped in November 2021, with both parties seeking ways to revive it, with a deadline set for the end of January 2022.^[17][18][19] However, in August 2022, IAG converted a loan to Air Europa into a 20% shareholding.^[20]

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.^[21][22][23] The decision followed interventions by the Spanish government, a key proponent of the merger.^[24][25][26] According to IAG, the merger will allow for the launch of Asia flights from the Madrid hub, which the Spanish government has advocated for.^[27] 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.^[28][29] 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.^[30]

Destinations

Main article: List of Air Europa destinations

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.^[31]

Codeshare agreements

As of August 2021^[update], Air Europa has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:^[32]

• Aeroflot
• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Aeroméxico
• Air France
• Air Serbia
• Binter Canarias
• Canaryfly
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• Copa Airlines^[33]
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Etihad Airways
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Garuda Indonesia
• ITA Airways^[34]
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Turkish Airlines
• Vietnam Airlines
• XiamenAir

Fleet

 

An Air Europa Boeing 787-8

 

An Air Europa Boeing 737-800 wearing the SkyTeam special livery

 

An Air Europa Embraer 195 painted in the airline's former livery

Current fleet

As of January 2024^[update], Air Europa operates an all-Boeing mainline fleet (excluding Air Europa Express) composed of the following aircraft:^{[35][36][37][38]}

Air Europa fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers^[39]			Notes
			C	Y	Total
Boeing 737-800	17	—	12	168	180
Boeing 737 MAX 8	—	20^[40]	TBA
Boeing 787-8	11	—	22	274	296
Boeing 787-9	15	5^[41]	30	303	333^[42]
Total	43	25

Historical fleet

Air Europa previously operated the following aircraft:^[43]

Air Europa historical fleet

Aircraft	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airbus A330-200^[35]	2006	2021
Airbus A330-300^[35]	2013	2021
Airbus A340-200	2005	2006
ATR 42	1996	1997
Boeing 737-300	1986	2004
Boeing 737-400	1994	2006
Boeing 737-600	2003	2004
Boeing 757-200	1987	1998
Boeing 767-200	1996	2001
Boeing 767-300ER	2000	2012
British Aerospace ATP	1996	2001
Embraer ERJ-145	2012	2017
Embraer 195	2008	2017	Transferred to subsidiary Air Europa Express

See also

• Air Europe (1979–1991)
• Air Europe (Italy) (1989–2008)
• List of airlines of Spain
• Transport in Spain

References

1. (PDF). Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
2. "Air Europa Route Map and Destinations - FlightConnections.com". www.flightconnections.com.
3. "Corporate Information / Globalia 2010-12-09 at the Wayback Machine." Air Europa. Retrieved on 17 December 2010. "Air Europa Líneas Aéreas, S.A.U. ·Centro Empresarial Globalia. Apdo. Correos-132. 07620 Llucmajor - Baleares - Spain"
4. "Bases_Sorteo_Ginebra.pdf." Air Europa. Retrieved on 8 November 2012. "AIR EUROPA LÍNEAS AÉREAS S.A. (Sociedad Unipersonal), con domicilio en Polígono Son Noguera, Carretera Arenal-Llucmajor, Km 21,5 de Llucmajor, Mallorca,"
5. "Fact Sheet 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine." SkyTeam. Retrieved on 27 December 2008.
6. World Airline Directory. Flight International. 16–22 March 2004. "62." "Centro Empresarial Globalia, PO Box 132, Llucmajor, Baleares, 07620, Spain"
7. . Skift Airline Weekly. February 25, 2019. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
8. "Air Europa crea su base de operaciones en Barajas". abc. September 25, 2013.
9. Payet, Jose Antonio (January 31, 2019). "Air Europa Continues to Grow Latin American Market, Nears Long-Standing Competitor".
10. "History of Air Europa". Retrieved February 4, 2020.
11. "Air Europa History | Air Europa". ot. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
12. "Globalia". Retrieved February 4, 2020.
13. Air Dominicana listed as defunct. Retrieved 2009-09-29 Archived April 27, 2009, at archive.today
14. "Air Europa". Retrieved February 4, 2020.
15. Vinholes, Thiago (May 23, 2019). "Anac aprova concessão da Air Europa no Brasil" [Anac approves Air Europa concession in Brazil]. UOL (in Portuguese). São Paulo. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
16. "IAG". Retrieved January 19, 2021.
17. Dunn2021-12-16T15:20:00+00:00, Graham. "IAG terminates Air Europa deal but agrees January deadline to study new structure". FlightGlobal. Retrieved December 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. "BA owner IAG to scrap plan to buy Spanish carrier Air Europa". The Guardian. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
19. "IAG and Air Europa cancel deal, examine alternative options". Reuters. December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
20. IAG takes 20 stake in Air Europa FlightGlobal 16 August 2022
21. Devereux, Charlie (February 23, 2023). "IAG agrees to buy 80% stake in Air Europa for 400 mln euros". Reuters. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
22. Schuurman, Richard (February 23, 2023). "IAG and Globalia agree on Air Europa deal". AirInsight. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
23. MarketScreener. "International Airlines Group - IAG agreement for full acquisition of Air Europa | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
24. Marco, Agustín (January 12, 2023). "La Moncloa reúne a Iberia y Air Europa para cerrar la fusión de forma inminente". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 6, 2023.
25. "Is IAG's Air Europa Acquisition Moving Forward? Spanish PM Pushes Deal – Travel Spill". travelspill.com. January 13, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
26. Peña, Juan Cruz (June 2, 2022). "Iberia comprará el 20% de Air Europa tras el visto bueno del Gobierno a Globalia". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 6, 2023.
27. "IAG Reaches New $422 Million Deal for Air Europa". Airline Weekly. February 24, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
28. "IAG agrees to buy Air Europa, again – the benefits are Madrid slot share, Europe-Latin America". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
29. Nowakowski, Adrian (November 2, 2023). "Op-Ed: Potential Airline Alliance Shifts on the Horizon". Airways. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
30. Foo Yun Chee (February 29, 2024). "Exclusive: IAG likely to be warned by EU on Air Europa deal, sources say". Reuters. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
31. Kaminski-Morrow, David (November 4, 2019). . Flightglobal. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021.
32. "Air Europa Company | Corporate information | Air Europa". us.
33. "Air Europa and Copa Airlines announce a new code-share agreement". www.copaair.com.
34. "ITA Airways e Air Europa, accordo per migliore connettività tra i due network" [ITA Airways and Air Europa, codeshare for a better connectivity between their networks]. teleborsa.it (in Italian). Retrieved October 28, 2021.
35. "Spain's Air Europa to add five B787-9s, ten B737 MAX". ch-aviation GmbH. September 1, 2022. from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
36. "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
37. Mitchell, Alexander (January 22, 2024). "Air Europa Welcomes New Boeing 787-9 Ahead Of Another 4 Dreamliners This Year". Simple Flying. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
38. Dolande, Rainer Nieves (January 17, 2024). "Air Europa celebrates the arrival of its latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner". Aviacionline.com (in Spanish). Retrieved February 9, 2024.
39. "Fleet". aireuropa.com. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
40. "Spain's Air Europa to take first three B737 MAX in 2024". ch-aviation. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
41. Hemmerdinger, Jon (February 14, 2024). "Boeing ended January with no net new aircraft orders for the month as aircraft delivery pace slows". FlightGlobal. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
42. "Air Europa schedules 787-9 Argentina service in March 2018". Routesonline. 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
43. "Air Europa Fleets". Airfleets.net. Retrieved August 23, 2012.

External links

  Media related to Air Europa at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website  

39°28′59″N 2°51′10″E / 39.48307290°N 2.85285110°E / 39.48307290; 2.85285110