Elena Baillo takes over as CFO at Iberia from Iberia Express, where she is currently CFO and Corporate Area Director. Baillo previously held other senior management positions at Iberia. Between 1999 and 2011 she was Director of Investor Relations and between 2011 and 2014, Director of Management Control. Baillo assisted with the development and execution of Iberia's IPO process in April 2001 and worked on the launch of Iberia Express in 2012. Since then, she has been a member of the Board of Directors.
Baillo has also held positions of great responsibility at the group's parent company, IAG, where she was Director of Financial Transformation from 2014 to 2016. After that period, she assumed her current position at Iberia Express and has been a key player in the consolidation of the company as a profitable and efficient airline. She holds a degree in Law, specialising in legal and business law from CEU San Pablo, and has also completed an advanced programme in Structured Finance at IE.
José Antonio Barrionuevo, appointed CFTO of British Airways
Baillo will return to Iberia in July to take over from José Antonio Barrionuevo, who will become the new CFO and Transformation Director at British Airways.
Barrionuevo joined Iberia in 2013 as Strategy and Transformation Director. In 2016 he was appointed Director of Strategic Planning and Finance and became a member of both the Management Committee and Board of Directors at the airline. Over the past ten years, he designed and executed Iberia's Future Plan and has successfully led the financial transformation of the company, which in 2019 achieved a record operating profit of €497 million.
Barrionuevo was responsible for the financial measures that ensured the company's survival during the COVID pandemic, actions that provided the foundations for the solid recovery that Iberia is now experiencing. Barrionuevo has also been an important part of the team that negotiated the deal to buy 100% of Air Europa, currently under review by the competition authorities.
The handover between Barrionuevo and Baillo, as well as Barrionuevo's transfer to British Airways, is a good example of the level of talent that exists within the IAG team and the group's commitment to internal mobility, offering new opportunities for the professional development of its employees.
Barrionuevo and Baillo will take up their new positions in July. Iberia's new CFO will support Fernando Candela during the current transition phase until the definitive changes in the company's top management take place.
