Spanish low-fare carriers clickair and Vueling have begun cross-selling seats online on all their domestic and international flights in another step towards two companies' merger.
The cross-selling agreement gives customers of both airlines access to more than 10 million seats on a combined 89 routes and 45 destinations. Clickair’s bases in Barcelona, Bilbao, Malaga, Seville and Valencia will be complemented by Vueling’s. The new arrangement will also allow clickair passengers to access the latter’s routes originating from Madrid. The combined timetables went live on www.clickair.com and www.vueling.com on 27 February.
Vueling’s chief financial officer, Antonio Grau, also announced that after the merger, flights operated by the new Vueling, in which Iberia – currently clickair’s strategic shareholder – will have a majority interest, will have a codeshare agreement with Iberia, as clickair has since its creation in 2006. Since the airline’s inception all clickair flights have been available via the web or through traditional global distribution systems, via the Iberia codeshare (IB5000). Currently GDS sales at clickair account for nearly 40% of all seats sold, one of the highest proportions among low-fare airlines worldwide.
clickair marketing director Jaime Lloret noted, “Even though both companies are moving towards a full merger, the cross-selling agreement is still a commercial alliance. Both companies are still formally separate entities until the merger is formally completed.”
Following EU approval of the merger in January and the subsequent signing of the merger covenants by the boards of directors of Vueling and clickair on 13 February and 18 February, respectively, the remaining regulatory and legal steps are expected to be finalised by late June or early July.
Upon completion, the merged new Vueling’s majority shareholder will be Iberia, taking a stake of between 40% and 45% of the company’s renewed stock. Hemisferio, the present controlling shareholder of Vueling will dilute its ownership from the current 28% to approximately 15%. Some 25% of the new Vueling’s stock will continue to be traded on the Madrid Stock Exchange (MAD: VLG).
The DoD has changed its structures and is been increasing efforts to facilitate access to loans by companies interested in working with artificial intelligence, advanced materials and semiconductors, biotechnology and quantum science.
India has approved millions of dollars in new military purchases, most of which will go to public sector companies.
The main obstacles to overcoming risks in the region are a lack of a strong cybersecurity culture and inadequate funds to invest in this domain given a widespread Chinese presence in the region.
MBDA is adapting to supply chain pressures as the Russian invasion of Ukraine leads to increased demand for armaments.
Despite the additional funding promised this week, the UK armed forces still look set to face cutbacks, and maintaining international commitments to AUKUS and GCAP may limit the options for other programmes.
This week on the Shephard Defence Podcast, senior naval reporter Harry Lye and military training & simulation reporter Norbert Neumann chat with Professor John Louth.
Connect with us on socials
