IAG share price: British Airways parent joins Air Berlin bidders

British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG) has joined a string of other bidders interested in parts of insolvent Air Berlin, Reuters has reported. The news comes after FTSE 100 peer easyJet (LON:EZJ) disclosed on Friday that it had submitted a bid.

IAG’s share price has jumped in London this morning, having added 1.15 percent to 599.75p as of 09:35 BST, outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently 0.23 percent up at 7,269.61 points. The group’s shares have added more than 44 percent to their value over the past year, and are up by some 35 percent in the year-to-date.

Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters yesterday that IAG had joined the field of bidders for parts or all of insolvent German airline Air Berlin. The newswire, however, noted that it could not immediately be learned what parts of the German carrier IAG had bid for.

Air Berlin, Germany’s second-biggest airline after Lufthansa, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, as major shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding from the loss-making carrier. Reuters notes that most potential investors appear interested primarily in the airline’s roughly 140 aircraft and its airport landing and take-off slots rather than in taking over the business.

London-listed low-cost carrier easyJet said last week that it had submitted a proposal to the overseers of Air Berlin’s insolvency to acquire parts of its short haul business. Lufthansa has reportedly also submitted an offer for the insolvent carrier, while Reuters notes that other bidders for parts or the whole business include former Formula One driver Niki Lauda, who has put in a joint bid with Thomas Cook-owned airline Condor, German family-owned logistics firm Zeitfracht and aviation industry investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl. 

As of 10:07 BST, Tuesday, 19 September, International Consolidated Airlines Grp share price is 602.50p.