FACTBOX-How combined British Airways, Iberia would look

(New throughout with details from merger announcement)

MADRID/LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The boards of British
Airways BAY.L and Spain's Iberia IBLA.MC have agreed to a
merger to create the world's third-largest airline measured by
revenue. [ID:nLC092017]

Following are some key facts about the new carrier:

TERMS

-- BA shareholders will receive 55 pct of the new company
and Iberia 45 percent.

-- Deal will create new holding company that will own both
existing airlines with dual hubs in London and Madrid.

THE MERGED AIRLINE:

-- CEO: British Airways' Willie Walsh; Chairman: Iberia's
Antonio Vazquez.

-- Headquarters to be in London

-- Operations: The two will still fly under existing
brands, run from dual hubs in Madrid and London

-- Aircraft: 419 aircraft

-- Destinations: 205 airports

-- Passengers per year: 61.5 million

-- Staff: 63,600 (BA 42,000; Iberia 21,600)

-- Turnover: about 15 billion euros ($22.38 billion)

-- Pretax profit (2009E*): $1 billion loss (BA 401 mln stg
pretax loss; Iberia 228.8 mln euro pretax loss)

RATIONALE

-- Greater financial muscle and more routes to compete with
European giants Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) and Lufthansa
(LHAG.DE)

-- Cost savings and greater buying power on fuel, aircraft,
IT and other products that analysts estimate is worth some 550
million euros a year through to 2015.

-- Very few overlapping routes. Iberia has the biggest
share of the Europe-Latin America market, while BA is the
leading airline on North Atlantic routes and has strong
Europe-Asia connections

-- Ends BA's long chase for Iberia. Fulfills Iberia's
long-time desire for consolidation

TOP FIVE AIRLINES:

Based on 2008 scheduled international passengers carried:

Rank Airline 2008 int'l
passengers

1. Lufthansa 42.2 million

2. Air France 32.5 million

3. British Airways 29.0 million

4. KLM 23.8 million

5. Emirates 22.4 million

Sources: Reuters, British Airways, Iberia, IATA

* Figures expected by analysts for year to March 2009,
according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski, Rhys Jones and Ben Harding;
Editing by Andrew Callus, Tim Dobbyn)