Photo: Shutterstock Turkish Airlines makes strategic move. Turkish Airlines announced over the weekend that it has made a "binding offer to Air Europa for a minority stake investment."
It is well known that Air Europa has caught the attention of all major airline groups in Europe.
Due to opposition from the European Commission, which feared a substantial reduction in competition following a merger with Iberia, IAG withdrew its bid to acquire Air Europa, despite already holding a 20% stake in Air Europa.
Air France-KLM also later withdrew its offer to acquire Air Europa, and the Lufthansa Group, after considering the matter, recently decided not to submit a purchase offer.
Turkish Airlines conducted evaluations of Air Europa over a period, and as it clarifies, already expressed its interest in the Spanish airline back in June.
In a statement issued by the Turkish airline, it notes:
"As noted in our disclosure dated June 20, 2025, to strengthen our position in the global aviation sector and enhance our competitiveness in the market, our company conducted non-binding discussions to assess a potential investment opportunity in Air Europa and explore possible synergies of partnerships.
Following feasibility studies, the investment was assessed as aligning with our company's long-term value creation goals under our 2033 strategy, based on the following:
1. The complementary nature of Turkish Airlines' global network and Air Europa's strong presence in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America across both passenger and cargo sectors, enabling accelerated and diversified growth in the Latin American market.
2. The potential to create a leverage effect for our aviation ecosystem, including subsidiaries and partner companies, through new revenue streams and increased regional operational diversification.
In light of this, our company decided to submit a binding offer to Air Europa for a minority stake investment.
Should there be any new developments that may affect investor decisions, the required disclosures will be made available to the public."
It is worth noting that Spain is a significant market for Turkish Airlines, which flies to five destinations in the country: Barcelona (BCN), Madrid (MAD), Bilbao (BIO), Valencia (VLC), and Malaga (AGP).
Photo: Air Europa