Air France—KLM has joined Lufthansa in a bid to take majority ownership of Air Europe, a SkyTeam member airline based in Spain.
The AFKL has allegedly offered €300M in cash + taking responsibility for €475M debt that the airline owns to the Spanish government for a 51% stake, according to local media (access here).
You can access Air Europea here.
Air France—KLM’s bid would value Air Europa at more than a billion when you factor in the existing debt, while Lufthansa’s current offer is €800M.
IAG, the parent of British Airways, Iberia, and others and partly owned by Qatar Airways, was in the process of acquiring Air Europa for a billion euros in 2019. However, the deal was put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and later abandoned. This left IAG with a 20% stake in Air Europa.
Then, in 2023, the talks of IAG acquiring Air Europa were revived but eventually torpedoed in 2024 when the EU decided that it would reduce competition if the group controlled all the major airlines of Iberia, Air Europa, and Vueling in the country.
Air France—KLM recently took a minority stake in SAS that they have an option to acquire later, and Lufthansa is currently integrating the former Alitalia, nowadays called ITA Airways, into its group and Star Alliance.
Air France, KLM, and Lufthansa are also in talks with the Portuguese government, which is trying to find a new majority owner for TAP.
Conclusion
Looking at how these things may play out, it is unlikely that Lufthansa or Air France—KLM could take over both Air Europa and TAP, so there would be one for each while preserving competition in the Iberian Peninsula.
Air Europa is already on SkyTeam, while TAP is a member of Star Alliance.
The consolidation of the airline sector appears to create three major airline groups in Europe: IAG (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus & Vueling), Lufthansa (Lufthansa + Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings & ITA), and Air France – KLM (Air France, KLM, SAS & Transavia).
