Valencia’s Air Nostrum in Spain and Ireland’s CityJet get EU merger approval for the second time

Valencia’s Air Nostrum has been given the green light to merge with Ireland’s CityJet to form Europe’s largest regional airline.

It is the second time permission has been granted by the European Commission after a 2019 go-ahead was put on hold due to the Covid pandemic.

A new holding will be formed keeping both brands in a fleet of 70 aircraft, 48 of which belong to Air Nostrum.

The economic model is similar to that of the IAG group established after the merger of British Airways and Iberia.

Air Nostrum also operates as an Iberia franchisee for regional flights.

The new combined company will employ around 2,000 people, including maintenance and support services.

An Air Nostrum spokesman said: “The agreement will mean a leap in efficiency, which will allow us to offer the best services to the European market.”

Quite a turnaround for the Valencian company that lost more than 140 million euros in the first year of the pandemic.

The situation got so bad that he needed a bailout loan from the government that helped cut losses to 7.3 million euros in 2021.

Air Nostrum returned to profitability last year with passenger levels close to 2019 figures.