Factbox: The flight path of Airline M&A since 2001

ASIANA AIRLINES

03/07/2024 12:51

July 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission approved a
long-awaited deal for Lufthansa  LHAG.DE  to take a 41% stake in
Italy's ITA Airways on Wednesday, in Europe's latest major
consolidation. 
    The European sector has experienced a wave of consolidation
in the last 20 years as small national airlines struggle to
compete with larger global groups and budget carriers. 
    This comes as regulators fear the industry in North America
is too concentrated, with some deals blocked by courts. 
    
    Here are some of the key deals globally since 2001: 
    
    2001- American Airlines  AAL.O  reaches deal to acquire
Trans World Airlines (TWA).
    2004 - France's Air France and Dutch carrier KLM announce
plans to merge. Dutch carrier Transavia, previously owned by
KLM, also becomes part of Air France-KLM.
    2005 - Lufthansa takes minority stake in Swiss Airlines. It
completes the takeover in 2007.
    2008 - Delta Air Lines  DAL.N  merges with Northwest
Airlines.  
    2009 - Lufthansa gets green light to buy Austrian Airlines.
The same year, Lufthansa acquires a stake in Brussels Airlines,
before taking it over fully in 2017.
    2010 - United Airlines  UAL.O  and Continental Airlines
merge in an all-stock transaction and Southwest Airlines  LUV.N 
reaches a deal to buy AirTran Holdings.
    2011 - IAG forms after British Airways acquires Spanish
carrier Iberia. The merger agreement was signed in 2010. 
    2013 - IAG takes a 90% stake in Barcelona-based Vueling,
which was already largely under Iberia's management.
American Airlines and US Airways unveil a $11 billion merger.
    2014 - Etihad Airways invests 1.7 billion euros ($1.83
billion) and takes a 49% stake in Alitalia, ITA Airways'
troubled predecessor.
    2016 - Alaska Air  ALK.N  announces a deal to buy Virgin
America for $2.6 billion. 
    2019 - Cathay Pacific Airways  0293.HK  says it will buy
budget carrier Hong Kong Express for $628 million. 
    2020 - Italy nationalises Alitalia, taking back ownership in
March, after the carrier was privatised in 2009.
    2021 - Korean Air  003490.KS  says it will take over
two-thirds of Korea's struggling second major carrier Asiana
Airlines for $1.6 billion. 
    2022 - Tata-owned flag carrier Air India says it will merge
with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore
Airlines  SIAL.SI .
    2022 - JetBlue Airways  JBLU.O  wins a bidding war for
Spirit Airlines after the ultra-low-cost carrier terminates a
$2.7 billion merger deal with Frontier Group and accepts its
$3.8 billion buyout. The deal, however, is called off in 2024
after a U.S. judge blocked it on competition concerns.
    2023 - Alaska Air announces a deal to buy Hawaiian Airlines
for $1.9 billion, including debt. 
    2023 - Scandinavian carrier SAS announces a rescue deal to
help it exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy, under which Castlelake will
take a stake of about 32%, while Air France-KLM's will be around
20% and the Danish state will hold about 26%.
    2024 - The European Commission approves the acquisition of
Asiana by Korean Air.    
    
    ONGOING
    IAG - AIR EUROPA
    The European Commission is set to make a final decision on
the deal by July as it assesses whether taking over Air Europa
will make IAG unreasonably dominant in the Iberian peninsula.
    
    TAP
    Portugal's struggling national carrier has long been looking
to find a private investor to take it over from the government. 
    IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have expressed interest.
    TAP CEO Luis Rodrigues last month said that the new
centre-right government should not sell 100% and should also
bring in non-aviation investors, such as private equity.
    
    SAS
    The European Commission is evaluating Air France-KLM's offer
to take a 19.9% stake in Scandinavian carrier SAS.
($1 = 0.9314 euros)

 (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, Lisa Barrington, Sergio
Goncalves and Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Sharon Singleton
and Alexander Smith)
 ((Joanna.Plucinska@thomsonreuters.com; 00447721669853; Reuters
Messaging: @joannaplucinska))