Spanish flag carrier Iberia is about to get a new CEO and President.
On May 4, 2023, International Airlines Group (IAG) announced that Fernando Candela is replacing Javier Sánchez-Prieto at the head of its Spanish unit, Iberia.
Since 2019 Candela, who will assume the role of Iberia’s President and CEO this coming June, has been the CEO of Barcelona-based LEVEL, IAG’s long-haul, low-cost subsidiary, a position which he combined with that of Chief Transformation Officer at the IAG group.
Before that, he had been at the helm of Iberia Express, another low-cost unit in the group which operates many short and medium haul feeder services for Iberia out of its Madrid-Barajas (MAD) hub.
According to Iberia’s official communiqué, Sánchez-Prieto is leaving both IAG and the airline industry generally on his own accord, in order to pursue other professional projects.
Upon taking office as new CEO, the most pressing matter that Candella will face is the conclusion of the Air Europa acquisition, which could significantly strengthen the airline’s grip on the Spanish and Europe to Latin America markets.
However, the deal has not yet been cleared by the European Competition authorities, which might object to the resulting airline getting too dominant a position in the markets in question.
