Iberia board to meet, BA merger could be imminent

* Iberia to hold board meeting on Thursday, March 25

* Hopes for BA merger announcement after meeting

MADRID, March 24 (Reuters) - Spain's Iberia IBLA.MC is holding its end-of-month board meeting on Thursday, November 25, a spokesman said, triggering hopes for an imminent announcement of a definitive merger deal with British Airways BAY.L.

Iberia and BA announced a memorandum of understanding in November for a merger to create the world's third largest airline by revenue. [ID:nLC092017]

"We expect the merger agreement between Iberia and British Airways to be signed this week, which should boost the share price," said Elena Fernandez, analyst for Ahorro Corporacion.

By 1519 GMT, Iberia's shares were down 0.72 percent at 2.62 euros, while BA was down 0.97 percent at 245.1 pence.

Both airlines have said they would seal the merger deal in the first quarter, though the main stumbling block will be an agreement on how to address the British carrier's multi-billion pound pension fund deficit. [ID:nLD644350]

Last week, BA struck an agreement with trade unions on its pension scheme in a first step towards addressing its yawning pension deficit. [ID:nLDE62F1XS]

The proposals will still need to be accepted by the trustees and the pensions regulator, with BA due to present a recovery plan to the regulator by the end of June.

Iberia chairman Antonio Vazquez, who will be chairman of the merged entity, has said he was convinced the tie-up with BA would go ahead despite the pension deficit, with the new carrier expected to fly at the end of the year. [ID:nLDE61O0BC].

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; editing by Elaine Hardcastle )