Fusiones y Adquisiciones

✈️ Air Nostrum and CityJet's alliance under SARA is nearing its end, two years after its formation. A Danish businessman, Lars Thuesen, will become the majority shareholder of CityJet with a 92% stake, investing €3.2 million and restructuring €40 million of debt. The alliance, formalized in 2023, aimed to create Europe's largest independent regional aviation group with 74 aircraft. Financial issues, internal disagreements, and lost contracts led to a court-approved restructuring plan opposed by Air Nostrum.

📈 Ávoris seeks to mend ties with Viajes El Corte Inglés (VECI), after a breakup in mid-2024 over an Imserso tourism program dispute. VECI axed incentives for Ávoris products, including Travelplan and Catai, but Tourmundial thrived with a 39.8% growth to €172.7 million. Meanwhile, Ávoris' Travelplan grew just 6.2% to €257 million, and Catai a mere 1.2% to €162.3 million in 2024. Key departures like Toni Frau and Pilar López to competitors add complexity.

✈ Los trabajadores de Ryanair en Santiago de Compostela harán huelga el 20 de octubre por el ERE que afecta a 89 empleados. Manifiestan que este expediente no tiene motivos económicos y buscan un ERTE para preservar empleos. CIG y CCOO apoyan esta postura, destacando la rentabilidad de la base. El paro afectará otras empresas del aeropuerto. Tres empleados de combustible ya fueron despedidos, y se temen más impactos en otras áreas. Movilizaciones continuarán hasta negociar efectivamente.

📈 World2Meet (W2M) expands into the Italian market by acquiring Ixpira, a tour operator founded in 2017. Guy Luongo, CEO of Ixpira, emphasizes this as a strategic growth move. Subject to due diligence, the deal is expected to close in December. Ixpira has over 18,000 hotel contracts in Italy and 186,000 globally, offering flights, transfers, car rentals, and activities. W2M's expansion includes operations in Romania and Bulgaria and acquiring Spain's second-largest OTA, eBooking.

🛫 American Airlines, in 2025, has removed luggage size gauges at boarding areas in airports like Albuquerque, Tucson, and Arlington. Luggage size limits will now be checked at check-in or not controlled post-check-in. This change aligns American with United Airlines, which eliminated these gauges five years prior. The aim is to enhance their premium airline image, moving away from low-cost associations. American also revised its boarding processes with new groups.

✈ Lufthansa seeks to streamline operations by centralizing fleet decisions in Germany, aiming to cut complexity and costs. Currently operating 13 long-haul aircraft types, they plan to halve this number. Models like A330-200, A340-300, A340-600, B747-400, B767 300ER, and B777 200 are set for retirement. Remaining models include A330-300, A330-900, A350-900, A350-1000, A380, B747-8, B777-300, B777-9, and B787. The varied fleet increases management costs, with some models being less common globally.

💸 Christian Lucas, CEO of Central de Vacaciones, highlights market concentration as inevitable for growth beyond the Iberian market, especially targeting Latin America. The OTA's 2024 revenue was €15.5 million, a 10.7% increase. Demand trends like booking timing affected 50% of reservations, with September seeing a 16% rise year-on-year. The company's modest growth trajectory, limited by operating in only two markets, contrasts with larger competitors. Integration into larger groups is considered for expansion and resource acquisition.

💳 Diners Club Spain, led by CEO José Maldonado, aims for 50% of new sales from travel agency products by 2026. In July, they launched a new travel vertical in Spain, targeting alliances with major travel groups to enhance operational, accounting, and financial solutions. The travel agency sector, contributing €100 billion (6% of Spain's GDP), is highly specialized. Strategic and non-strategic payment solutions are being developed for agency suppliers, aiming to streamline processes and foster partnerships.

✈ Rusia, diciembre 2024: El grupo Volga-Dnepr venderá a Aeroflot ocho aviones de carga (seis Boeing 737 y dos Boeing 747) por 130 millones de dólares. Las sanciones internacionales por la guerra en Ucrania dificultan la importación de piezas, forzando a desmantelarlos para repuestos. En 2023, Rusia gastó 2.000 millones de dólares comprando componentes a Gabón. Entre 2022 y 2024, solo fabricaron siete aviones, comparado con trece en 2021. La industria civil compite con la militar por recursos limitados.

📚 World2Meet (W2M), owned by Iberostar, acquired eBooking to expand its online B2C distribution. eBooking, founded in 1997, gained prominence after its 2019 purchase by ex-Booking execs, reaching €600 million annual revenue. W2M aims to boost its global presence, aligning with its strategic goals. It recently expanded its tour operation in Romania and Bulgaria in March 2025 under the Newblue brand. eBooking will join W2M's distribution division, including Azulmarino and others.