Spain"s biggest airline Iberia has agreed a merger with British Airways (BA), dpa quoted the Spanish newspaper El Pais and the financial website finanzas.com as reporting today. BA will hold 55 per cent and Iberia 45 per cent of the merged company, the reports said. Iberia president Antonio Vazquez will chair the company, which will be headquartered in London, El Pais quoted knowledgeable sources as saying. Iberia and BA were holding separate board meetings to discuss long-standing merger plans. In statements released in London and Madrid, both airlines earlier cautioned that no decisions had been taken and there could be "no guarantee" that a deal would be agreed. The two ailing European airlines have been considering a merger since the summer of 2008. BA last week announced a record half-yearly pre-tax loss of 292 million pounds (485 million dollars), following a record annual loss of 401 million pounds in the previous financial year. Iberia"s recent results showed losses of 165 million euros (247 million dollars) for the first half of 2009. Shares in both companies rose on the news on the stock markets in London and Madrid.
