British Airways and Iberia name merged board

British Airways and Iberia moved closer to a merger on Monday when the airlines named the full board of the combined group.

The board of International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the umbrella company which will control the two airlines, published a 14-member board divided equally between executives of the British and Spanish carriers.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh will become chief executive of the new group while Iberia chairman Antonio Vazquez will become group chairman, BA said in a statement.

The merger cleared a significant hurdle last week when Iberia said it had decided not to exercise its right to cancel the deal over a BA employees’ pensions deficit of 3.7 billion pounds (4.3 billion euros, 5.8 billion dollars).

The two airlines signed the merger deal on April 8 in a bid to compete more effectively in the fast-consolidating aviation sector by creating Europe’s second-biggest airline by market value after Lufthansa.

The executive European Commission gave the green light to the deal on July 14 and the two groups are to make a definitive announcement in November.

The tie-up would combine Iberia’s strong position in Latin America with BA’s presence in Africa, Asia and North America.