BA & Iberia to approve merger

Airlines Iberia of Spain and British Airways will meet next Thursday, March 25, to approve their merger deal, Expansion newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the companies.

Lawyers for the airlines have already registered the name International Airlines Group for the merged entity, the paper said.

The merger will be conditional on shareholder agreement and the go ahead from competition authorities.

It will start to fly at the end of the year with Antonio Vazquez, current Iberia chairman, as the merged group's chairman, the paper reported.

No-one at Iberia was immediately available to comment on the report.

Iberia is seeking strength in size through its planned merger with BA to create the world's third-largest airline by revenue. Airlines' passenger numbers have plummeted as leisure and business travelers scale back travel in a global slowdown.