Rattling the Budget airlines' cage as ClickAir + Vueling = Vueling

[uy707]

the deal clinched by WJ and WN had been barely inked that ....

http://airlinersgallerynews.blogspot.com/

Clickair (Barcelona) and Vueling.com (Barcelona) as we first reported on April 2, will merge. The "merger between equals" has received tentative approval. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a merger has been approved by Clickair's and Vueling's Board of Directors. If finally agreed by all parties, Clickair will be merged into Vueling. The Vueling brand will be the surviving brand. The headquarters will remain in Barcelona. Iberia, Air Nostrum, Nefinsa and Inversiones Hemisferio will be the shareholders of the new company. Iberia, which controls 80 percent of Clickair's voting rights, will hold around 45 percent of the stock of new company. Air Nostrum, which also controls 20 percent of Clickair, will have just slightly over 10 percent of the new Vueling. Vueling's largest shareholder, Hemisferio, will hold around 15 percent of the new Vueling.

[G-TTIC]

For the sake of both airlines this merger is good. The way it stands now both airlines are small and are no competition for the likes of some of the big LCC's like EasyJet and Ryanair. Maybe if the future Vueling gets a few new aircraft as well as inheriting the Clickair aircraft and workforce then they might be able to compete with these airlines. Also if the future Vueling can offer something that EasyJet and RyanAir have not yet offred before (maybe seat allocation at check in) then they might be able to attract ex loyal U2 and FR customers.

All in all they need a lot of aircraft and they will need to start doing domestic routes which do not involve spain as the other two already do.

[AA 1818]

How active are IB in the decision making processes at Clickair? I mean, were they mostly silent when it came to activities? Or, were the more hands-on? I am wondering if we will see IB hold a large reign on the new entity. Will we see great co-operating between the two entities (IB and Vueling)? Either way, consolidation is the way to go in this market. They can benefit greatly from this - and so will most of the markets that they serve. Can we be looking out for a large aircraft order soon for the new entity?