Sep 28, 2016, 2:57 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Aer Lingus takeover by IAG
Executive summary: Rumours of IAG (International Consolidated Airlines Group, British Airways, IAG Cargo, Iberia and Vueling - Link to Wikipedia article) interest in acquiring EI strengthened in December 2014, with refusals and objections by then 29% owner Ryanair, EI Board of Directors and some Irish government leaders (a 25% stake was held by the Irish government).
Aer Lingus, currently headed by CEO Stephen Kavanagh, was acquired by IAG for €1.36bn in 2015; IAG took full control of Aer Lingus on 02 Sep 2015.
Aer Lingus is working to join the oneworld airline alliance and plans to expand service to the U.S. later this year and next, CEO Stephen Kavanagh said Wednesday.
...Aer Lingus will strive to join the oneworld alliance that counts British Airways and American Airlines among its founding members.
“There are some advantages to joining the big-boys’ club,” Kavanagh said. While Avios will be a competitive tool, “ultimately, we believe that will result in our joining again oneworld,” he said.
Link to USA Today article - 18 May 2016
...Aer Lingus will strive to join the oneworld alliance that counts British Airways and American Airlines among its founding members.
“There are some advantages to joining the big-boys’ club,” Kavanagh said. While Avios will be a competitive tool, “ultimately, we believe that will result in our joining again oneworld,” he said.
Link to USA Today article - 18 May 2016
Aer Lingus is on target to join the OneWorld alliance next year (2017), when it should also be able to benefit from BA's joint venture with American Airlines.
"The next big integration issue will be Aer Lingus coming into the joint business on the transatlantic. That will require some systems changes," said (IAG CEO) Mr Walsh.
Link to article in Independent - 30 Apr 2016
"The next big integration issue will be Aer Lingus coming into the joint business on the transatlantic. That will require some systems changes," said (IAG CEO) Mr Walsh.
Link to article in Independent - 30 Apr 2016
On 26 May 2015, after months of negotiations on a possible IAG takeover, the Irish government agreed to sell its 25% stake in the company. Ryanair retained a 30% stake in Aer Lingus which it agreed to sell to IAG on 10 July 2015 for €2.55 per share. In August 2015, Aer Lingus' shareholders officially accepted IAG's takeover offer. IAG subsequently assumed control of Aer Lingus on 2 September 2015.
Link to Wikipedia article about Aer Lingus
Link to Wikipedia article about Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus IAG take over bid [Master Thread]
Jul 10, 2015, 3:56 am
#256
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EU gives approval for IAG-Aer Lingus deal: sources
IAG is set to gain European Union competition approval for its €1.36 billion bid for Aer Lingus after improving concessions to ease competition worries, a person familiar with the matter said today.
"The concessions include giving up some airport slots in London and special prorate agreements with rivals," the source said.
Prorate deals typically allow competing airlines to obtain favourable terms allowing them to carry passengers on connecting flights in order to feed into the rivals' own flights.
IAG had previously offered only prorate deals but was forced to bump up concessions after the European Commission said these were not sufficient.
The EU competition authority is scheduled to rule on the IAG takeover bid by July 15.
http://m.rte.ie/news/business/2015/0...anair-iag-bid/
IAG is set to gain European Union competition approval for its €1.36 billion bid for Aer Lingus after improving concessions to ease competition worries, a person familiar with the matter said today.
"The concessions include giving up some airport slots in London and special prorate agreements with rivals," the source said.
Prorate deals typically allow competing airlines to obtain favourable terms allowing them to carry passengers on connecting flights in order to feed into the rivals' own flights.
IAG had previously offered only prorate deals but was forced to bump up concessions after the European Commission said these were not sufficient.
The EU competition authority is scheduled to rule on the IAG takeover bid by July 15.
http://m.rte.ie/news/business/2015/0...anair-iag-bid/
Jul 14, 2015, 11:10 am
#257
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Posts: 5,876
RTE news reporting that IAG has been officially cleared for the takeover by the EU commission.
EC approves IAG's proposed Aer Lingus takeover
The European Commission has cleared IAG's proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus.
However, in a statement it said that its approval was conditional and parties to the sale had offered a number of commitments to address its concerns.
These include the release of five daily slot pairs at Gatwick airport.
Aer Lingus must also continue to carry connecting passengers to the long-haul flights of competing airlines on several routes
It comes after IAG improved concessions to ease competition worries, a person familiar with the matter said.
"The concessions include giving up some airport slots in London and special prorate agreements with rivals," the source said, according to reports on Reuters news agency.
Prorate deals typically allow competing airlines to obtain favourable terms allowing them to carry passengers on connecting flights in order to feed into the rivals' own flights.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0714/714...ngus-takeover/
EC approves IAG's proposed Aer Lingus takeover
The European Commission has cleared IAG's proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus.
However, in a statement it said that its approval was conditional and parties to the sale had offered a number of commitments to address its concerns.
These include the release of five daily slot pairs at Gatwick airport.
Aer Lingus must also continue to carry connecting passengers to the long-haul flights of competing airlines on several routes
It comes after IAG improved concessions to ease competition worries, a person familiar with the matter said.
"The concessions include giving up some airport slots in London and special prorate agreements with rivals," the source said, according to reports on Reuters news agency.
Prorate deals typically allow competing airlines to obtain favourable terms allowing them to carry passengers on connecting flights in order to feed into the rivals' own flights.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0714/714...ngus-takeover/
Last edited by DELLAS; Jul 14, 2015 at 11:31 am
Jul 14, 2015, 11:28 am
#258
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European Commission - Press release
Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Aer Lingus by IAG, subject to conditions
Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Aer Lingus by IAG, subject to conditions
Originally Posted by EC
The clearance decision is conditional upon the following commitments, which address the Commission’s concerns:
- the release of five daily slot pairs at London-Gatwick airport to facilitate the entry of competing airlines on routes from London to both Dublin and Belfast ; and
- Aer Lingus continuing to carry connecting passengers to use the long-haul flights of competing airlines out of London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Amsterdam, Shannon and Dublin .
- the release of five daily slot pairs at London-Gatwick airport to facilitate the entry of competing airlines on routes from London to both Dublin and Belfast ; and
- Aer Lingus continuing to carry connecting passengers to use the long-haul flights of competing airlines out of London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Amsterdam, Shannon and Dublin .
Jul 15, 2015, 5:18 am
#259
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Ryanair says to bid for slots IAG release at London-Gatwick
Ryanair will bid for the slots IAG has to release at London's Gatwick airport as a condition of the British Airways-owner's takeover of Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday.
IAG gained European Union antitrust approval for its 1.3-billion-euro ($1.4 billion) bid for the Irish carrier on Tuesday after agreeing to improve concessions to ease competition worries, including giving up five slots at the London airport.
"We welcome the proposals by IAG that they would surrender some slots in Gatwick. We will certainly be bidding for the slots and we would certainly want to expand services we offer at Gatwick," O'Leary, who agreed to sell Ryanair's 30 percent stake in Aer Lingus last week, told a news conference.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0PP0UI20150715
Ryanair will bid for the slots IAG has to release at London's Gatwick airport as a condition of the British Airways-owner's takeover of Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday.
IAG gained European Union antitrust approval for its 1.3-billion-euro ($1.4 billion) bid for the Irish carrier on Tuesday after agreeing to improve concessions to ease competition worries, including giving up five slots at the London airport.
"We welcome the proposals by IAG that they would surrender some slots in Gatwick. We will certainly be bidding for the slots and we would certainly want to expand services we offer at Gatwick," O'Leary, who agreed to sell Ryanair's 30 percent stake in Aer Lingus last week, told a news conference.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0PP0UI20150715
Jul 16, 2015, 6:31 am
#260
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Aer Lingus shareholders back airline’s €1.36bn sale to IAG
IAG says all resolutions have been passed by shareholders, clearing way for sale
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/t...-iag-1.2287044
Colm Barrington was on the 1 o'clock news saying that the deal is likely to receive the required 90% response by the end of the day - leading to a transfer of ownership by the end of August.
IAG says all resolutions have been passed by shareholders, clearing way for sale
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/t...-iag-1.2287044
Colm Barrington was on the 1 o'clock news saying that the deal is likely to receive the required 90% response by the end of the day - leading to a transfer of ownership by the end of August.
Jul 20, 2015, 2:02 am
#261
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Ryanair to base up to 30 aircraft at DUB after EI/IAG tie-up
Originally Posted by Irish Independent
Ryanair is planning a winter offensive at Dublin Airport to take on IAG following its looming €1.36bn takeover of Aer Lingus.
Within weeks of the Aer Lingus takeover being completed, Ryanair is expected to reveal details of additional winter services from Dublin that will see it square up for what could be increasingly vigorous competition between the rivals at the capital.
Within weeks of the Aer Lingus takeover being completed, Ryanair is expected to reveal details of additional winter services from Dublin that will see it square up for what could be increasingly vigorous competition between the rivals at the capital.
Jul 25, 2015, 12:43 pm
#262
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Any speculation on what will happen to Gold Circle once the take over is complete?
What are the odds of being allowed to convert Gold Circle points to Tier points or vice versa? I'd love to merge my Aer Lingus and BA accounts.
What are the odds of being allowed to convert Gold Circle points to Tier points or vice versa? I'd love to merge my Aer Lingus and BA accounts.
Jul 25, 2015, 3:19 pm
#263
Join Date: May 2014
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I would guess though the Gold Circle currency may at some point move to Avios and be able to be transferred between BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Avios.com. I wouldn't be surprised if all the IAG airlines in fact started crediting all avios directly to Avios.com, whilst keeping status tier points within their own respective schemes.
Jul 25, 2015, 4:27 pm
#264
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It was already stated that Aer Lingus will adopt Avios.
If they maintain Gold Circle as a separate programme, then it will change to adopt Avios/Tier Points, but it remains to be seen how these balances are converted.
As said before, it is extremely unlikely that you can move Tier Points between programmes.
There is an outside chance that they would migrate all members to Executive Club, as with bmi, but this seems unlikely.
If they maintain Gold Circle as a separate programme, then it will change to adopt Avios/Tier Points, but it remains to be seen how these balances are converted.
As said before, it is extremely unlikely that you can move Tier Points between programmes.
There is an outside chance that they would migrate all members to Executive Club, as with bmi, but this seems unlikely.
Jul 26, 2015, 12:06 pm
#265
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BMI of course was different, in that the BMI brand was not being carried on.
Jul 26, 2015, 12:18 pm
#266
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I suspect that Gold Circle will eventually disappear. If IAG is consistent with how they handle other airlines in their group, EI might have it's own pool of Avios, which can optionally be amalgated with Avios gathered from other IAG airlines such as BA/Iberia etc using a "combine my avios" functionality. Also it might be possible that redeeming on EI own website will have different tax/surcharge implications than redeeming for the same flights on BA.com, which is the situation for Iberia flights being booked on Iberia.com.
BMI of course was different, in that the BMI brand was not being carried on.
BMI of course was different, in that the BMI brand was not being carried on.
After all, Iberia has a separate programme to BA
Avios can be moved between them but the programmes are not identical status-wise or even earning/burning-wise.
Jul 26, 2015, 1:23 pm
#267
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Has there been an announcement regarding the effective date IAG will acquire Aer Lingus? I've read estimates as to August but no exact date. And furthermore, how long would it take to re-join OneWorld?
Jul 27, 2015, 2:57 am
#268
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EI were already working on a new FFP scheme (or at least a revamp of the existing one) long before the IAG issue came up; they recognised already that the Gold Circle programme was not really fit for purpose.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-l...ges-afoot.html
They changed from "TAB" to "Gold Circle" only about a decade ago or so; it would not surprise me if they had been planning on ditching the name.
Clearly, the new programme is going to become Avios based; I would imagine that they will scrap Gold Circle and start an Avios-based programme with a new name.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-l...ges-afoot.html
They changed from "TAB" to "Gold Circle" only about a decade ago or so; it would not surprise me if they had been planning on ditching the name.
Clearly, the new programme is going to become Avios based; I would imagine that they will scrap Gold Circle and start an Avios-based programme with a new name.
Jul 27, 2015, 2:58 am
#269
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EI were already working on a new FFP scheme (or at least a revamp of the existing one) long before the IAG issue came up; they recognised already that the Gold Circle programme was not really fit for purpose.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-l...ges-afoot.html
They changed from "TAB" to "Gold Circle" only about a decade ago or so; it would not surprise me if they had been planning on ditching the name.
Clearly, the new programme is going to become Avios based; I would imagine that they will scrap Gold Circle and start an Avios-based programme with a new name.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-l...ges-afoot.html
They changed from "TAB" to "Gold Circle" only about a decade ago or so; it would not surprise me if they had been planning on ditching the name.
Clearly, the new programme is going to become Avios based; I would imagine that they will scrap Gold Circle and start an Avios-based programme with a new name.
Jul 27, 2015, 3:00 am
#270
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The deadline for EI shareholders to respond to the offer is next Thursday; so we can probably expect further news shortly thereafter.
As regards rejoining oneworld, it seems that the behind-the-scenes (specifically IT) preparations can take a considerable amount of time - even a year or more. Do not expect a oneworld entry in 2015!
Of course, it is almost certain that EI will become a full BAEC/Iberia Plus partner pretty soon; some of the other oneworld programmes may also make similar moves prior to their formal re-entry into oneworld.
