Fusiones y Adquisiciones

🏨 In Europe, aviation giants like Lufthansa, Air France, and Ryanair, along with American and Southwest Airlines in the U.S., have reported a slump in demand. Ryanair has only sold 34% of its September seats. Southwest's profits plunged by 46%, leading to new operational changes including seat charges, a first since its inception. Upcoming data from IAG, parent of Iberia and Vueling, is anticipated, noting their historically better performance than Air France and Lufthansa. Industry experts Mike Boyd and George Ferguson predict a severe industry downturn.

✈ Iberia could undermine Globalia's Air Europa by assuming losses for one or two years to lure customers with very low prices if Brussels vetoes the acquisition. IAG's airline is prepared to invest around €200 million, half of the €400 million acquisition cost currently under review by the European Commission.

💸 Fabricated by Airbus, the esteemed A220 airplane, initially designed by former Bombardier, is adopted by airlines like Delta, Baltic, and Swiss. Five almost-new A220s, manufactured in 2019, are on sale due to GTLK's inability to pay amidst financial operation issues in Ireland, exacerbated by its Russian capital amidst sanctions from the Ukraine war. Located in the Netherlands, offers were heard until last Friday by IBA, with Teneo handling the liquidation. The sale to the highest bidder is expected in the upcoming months.

🚲 In Mallorca, a protest led by left-wing supporters last Sunday criticized immigrants for straining schools and explicitly condemned cyclists. The protesters claimed immigrants impact the education system due to continuous labor inflow, eroding local social fabric, language, and culture. The extreme right was criticized for targeting recent arrivals from Morocco, Italy, Argentina, Romania, Ecuador, Senegal, and China. The Obra Cultural Balear (OCB) demanded "linguistic sustainability," alongside Catalan independence flags like the "estelada.

🏖 Ávoris Corporación Empresarial committed to expanding in Portugal, meeting with tourism authorities in Lisbon. Discussions included Grupo Barceló's hotel presence growth beyond Madeira, Iberojet airline's operations extension at Lisbon and Porto airports, and reinforcing the group's tour operators like Nortravel, Travelplan, Jolidey, and Catai. Ávoris aims to boost sales from Spain to Portugal using their extensive travel agency network to meet the rising demand for quality tourism services.

🌍 Exoticca secured a €60 million funding round led by Quadrille Capital, including All Iron Ventures, ICF, 14W, Mangrove, Bonsai, Sabadell, and Aldea. The investment aims to enhance its business model, platforms, and market reach. After establishing in the US, Canada, and the UK, Exoticca is targeting Latin America, already entering Mexico and Colombia, with plans for Chile. CEO Pere Vallès focuses on transitioning from English-speaking to Spanish-speaking travelers.

🏨 Hotel Arts in Barcelona's Villa Olímpica will progressively close rooms for refurbishment, as reported by El Periódico. Electrical outages accelerated the near-total closure, with only suites operational currently. The 44-story, 483-room hotel, managed by Marriott, will undergo a 17-month renovation costing €60 million. Other hotel rooms' guests have been relocated.

📈 Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Óscar Puente has ignored requests from cabin crew representatives of Air Europa amidst uncertainty over Iberia's proposal to acquire routes. USO, the major union at Globalia's company, expresses concern over the lack of transparency in the operation. Both Air Europa CEO Jesús Nuño de la Rosa and IAG CEO Luis Gallego responded to union letters, stating they cannot provide information on the purchase, affecting over 3,000 workers.

💸 Volotea, an airline with a fleet of 44 planes including 24 A320s and 20 A319s, faces a dilemma. While it stands to benefit from route slots at Rome's Fiumicino Airport relinquished by Ita and Lufthansa, and possibly in Spain due to Iberia's acquisition of Air Europa, its fleet is insufficient to cover these new opportunities. Volotea mainly leases planes, adding just three this year due to financial constraints and market shortages, complicating its ability to meet the demands of the newly acquired slots.

🚀 Southwest Airlines, the first low-cost carrier in the U.S., experienced a massive failure one and a half years ago due to outdated systems during a period of air space saturation. On a recent Friday, it was the only U.S. airline operating normally amidst a Microsoft-caused chaos, thanks to its use of the 32-year-old Windows 3.1 OS, which was unaffected by CloudStrike's security update. UPS and FedEx also use this old OS and functioned without issues, while other airlines faced delays and cancellations. Southwest had previously claimed plans to upgrade their systems, which they evidently did not.