If you ever needed any more evidence that the aviation industry is changing, look no further than the big announcement from British Airways and Spanish flagship carrier Iberia this afternoon.
The two have announced that they reached an agreement on a “memorandum of understanding” to proceed with a full merger of equals. The combination will create one of the largest airlines in Europe, carrying 62 million passengers yearly. The joint revenues will be around 15 billion Euros and they’ll fly a fleet of 419 aircraft.
According to the press release, the new airline will be called TopCo, and will be based in Spain, with its headquarters in the UK. BA will own 55% of the combination and Iberia will hold the rest. The merger is expected to be completed in late 2010. Willie Walsh, the current CEO of British Airways will lead the new company.
Both airlines will keep their own names, and branding, very much like KLM and Air France did when they merged.
The full press release can be found here.