Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Tuesday, January 25, 2011 10:00 pm TWN, By Robert Barr, AP

Sponsors
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.

Newly merged airline shares begin trading

LONDON--Shares in the new company controlling British Airways and Iberia began trading Monday in Europe, and the leaders of Europe's third-largest airline were already talking about expansion.

Stock in the new holding company, International Consolidated Airline Group SA, was admitted to exchanges in London, Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia. The shares opened at 282 pence (US$4.50) in London and were up at 284.8 pence at 9:01 GMT.

“British Airways and Iberia are the first two airlines in IAG but they won't be the last,” the airline group's Chief Executive Willie Walsh said at the London exchange.

“Our goal is for more airlines but, importantly, the right airlines to join the group. Today is the first step towards creating a multinational multibrand airline group,” said Walsh, who had been British Airways' chief executive.

British Airways and Iberia will continue flying under those names. Their merger is intended to achieve cost savings while expanding the reach of both brands.

The new group has a fleet of 406 aircrafts, serving more than 250 destinations and carrying around 57 million passengers per year. Annual revenue is estimated at around 12 billion pounds (US$19 billion), ranking behind Germany's Lufthansa AG and Air-France KLM.

A key benefit for British Airways is Iberia's greater access to South American routes, while Iberia will gain from British Airway's more extensive North American operations.

British Airway shareholders got a 56 percent stake in the new company.

Last year, British Airways abandoned merger talks with Australia's Qantas Airways, but Walsh said in September that he had a target list of around a dozen carriers.

The pair also plans to expand their Oneworld Alliance with American Airlines. U.S. antitrust laws bar a full-scale merger with the U.S. airline, but the trio still plan to set prices together and share seat capacity on trans-Atlantic flights.

International Airlines Group is registered in Madrid, but its financial and operational headquarters are in London.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here