BA Owner IAG 'To Cut 1,600 Jobs' At Iberia

The owner of British Airways and Iberia said it would begin consultations over nearly 1,600 job cuts at the struggling Spanish carrier.

International Airlines Group (IAG) said up to 1,581 staff may be at risk of losing their jobs.

The move follows hundreds of redundancies at Iberia last year.

That round of cuts prompted widespread industrial action at the airline.

IAG said it has informed employees and unions of the planned reform.

It added that the cuts were discussed earlier in the year during negotiations with union representatives.

The parent company said: "This option was discussed as part of the collective bargaining negotiations with the airline’s unions last April.

"It is a continuation of Iberia’s transformation plan to introduce permanent structural changes across the airline enabling it to grow profitably in the future."

In May amid a major restructuring, IAG reported a first quarter loss of £123m - down from £227m in early 2013.

BA made an operating loss of £4m in the first quarter compared to a £60m loss a year ago.

"Iberia has almost halved its losses from quarter one last year," IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said at the time.

"The airline continues to benefit from restructuring and these figures don't reflect the impact of recent pay and productivity agreements which took effect in April."