Iberia's Conte steps down, BA merger unaffected

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish airline Iberia's (IBLA.MC) chairman, Fernando Conte, has stepped down and will be replaced by former Altadis chairman Antonio Vazquez, the airline said on Thursday, adding the change would not affect plans to merge with British Airways (BAY.L).

A newspaper report said that its main shareholder Caja Madrid was unhappy with the lack of progress being made toward the BA merger but a spokesman denied that this had been the motivation behind the change.

Conte had already stated at the beginning of this year that he wanted to step down before his 60th birthday in March 2010 and the spokesman said that the search for his successor had been completed sooner than expected.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with shareholder pressure, the merger with British Airways, or results," the spokesman said.

"The merger discussions continue. This does not affect them in any way."

(Reporting by Ben Harding and Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Greg Mahlich)