Air Europa today presented its new aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, an event that marks the end of the share cycle. The president of Globalia, Juan José Hidalgo, assured that at “82 and a half years old” he considers his “objectives in the airline sector” fulfilled. The sale to IAG, so that the group led by Luis Gallego, proceeds with the merger of the airline with Iberia, faces its decisive phase in Brussels, pending negotiations with the European Commission and, specifically, the presentation of the routes that are going to be transferred to comply with competition obligations. The operation is closed at 400 million.
Hidalgo has announced, in the new Air Europa hangar at the Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas airport, that the Globalia airline closed 2023 with a gross profit (ebitda) of 200 million. This is a record figure, higher than the 160 million in 2022. The company, added the president of Globalia, has 120 million in cash, “for a capital increase or to have peace of mind,” he advanced.
Air Europa, Hidalgo said, expects to earn more in 2024 than last year. “We have eliminated small fleets, we are going to increase 8 long-haul aircraft, we are going to grow on the routes we are on and we are going to open new ones,” he said. “It has to be the most positive exercise” in the company’s history, he concluded.
Hidalgo also stated that Air Europa has reached an “optimal moment.” “I want to highlight how satisfied I am to have come this far with this company,” he said. “Air Europa started from scratch and little by little it grew; Today we transport more passengers with 20 fewer planes than in 2019,” he added. “Europe is at the pinnacle of efficiency,” he commented.
The president of Globalia asked IAG, if it ends up being the shareholder of Air Europa, to maintain the same roadmap because the airline “has a life of its own,” he highlighted.
Air Europa has contracted a large hangar at Madrid airport that will be the maintenance center for the company’s 787 aircraft. It has been built on Aena land over the last 10 years. Hidalgo has asked that Boeing become a reference maintenance center in Europe for the aircraft manufacturer.
