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Volotea teams up with Abra for slots from integrated IAG-Air Europa

Spain's Volotea stated on Tuesday it was partnering with Abra, which owns Colombian airline company Avianca and Brazil's GOL, to take over slots that IAG promised to hand over in order to get approval for its merger with Air Europa.

The offer does not include any modifications to the shareholding structure, Volotea CEO Carlos Munoz stated, adding that there was no charge included for the joint endeavor partners.

Munoz informed a news conference in Madrid that the offer looked for to optimise the set of solutions with the integration of a. long-haul and a short-haul network.

Abra CEO Adrian Neuhauser stated the joint venture did not. require authorisation from anti-trust authorities, since the two. airline groups do not contend directly.

The joint venture structure will allow the business to. offer a unified product to customers both in Europe and the. Americas, offering connectivity in between their particular. networks with a single ticket, they said in a joint declaration.

British Airways and Iberia owner IAG is paying 400 million. euros ($ 429 million) to Spanish tourist group Globalia for the. 80% of Air Europa it does not currently own.

As part of its authorisation, the European Commission is. most likely to require the merged entity to hand over slots and routes. to other airline companies to ensure competition.

IAG offered fresh concessions on June 11 in a quote to allay. the Commission's stress over the effect of the offer on Spanish. short and long-haul flights.

These included providing 52% of Air Europa's 2023. slots to rivals, a person familiar with the talks informed .

Ryanair, Volotea, Iberojet and Binter have signed. memoranda of comprehending with IAG for short-haul flights and. Avianca and World2Fly for long-haul. Details were not disclosed.

EU antitrust regulators are asking whether competitors proposed. by IAG to take over a few of Air Europa's paths are capable of. running them and competing with IAG, individuals familiar with the. matter stated last week.

(source: Reuters)