Hangar 51

Nacho Tovar, IAG's head of investment, and Annalisa Gigante, IAG's Group Director of Innovation, jointly oversee Hangar 51's accelerator cohorts and equity investments. Program directors historically have included Glenn Morgan, who later chaired the IATA Digital Council. Investment decisions involve operational leaders from British Airways and Iberia who evaluate startups on their ability to integrate with live airline systems.

Hangar 51 runs open-application accelerator cohorts out of London and Madrid, selecting roughly 10-15 startups per cycle. The program leans heavily on IAG's operational teams inside British Airways and Iberia to set challenge themes — baggage handling, crew scheduling, maintenance forecasting — and then scouts startups globally that can run proofs-of-concept on live infrastructure within the 10-week program window.

Hangar 51 makes equity investments in participating startups and offers follow-on capital to successful graduates. The terms are not publicly disclosed. The equity stake is typically paired with a commercial pilot agreement that gives the startup access to IAG's airlines as design partners and reference customers, creating a blended return model uncommon in pure corporate accelerators.

Hangar 51 does not publicly maintain an exclusion list, but the program's focus on aviation infrastructure means consumer-facing travel apps, airline retailing, and frequent-flyer loyalty tools rarely appear outside occasional Iberia cohorts. Heavy industrial aviation — engine manufacturing, airframe design — falls outside the accelerator's scope and sits with IAG's fleet procurement and OEM relationships.

Hangar 51 invests directly and has not disclosed a formal co-investment program for outside venture firms. Several alumni, including Assaia and ZeroAvia, subsequently raised capital from institutional climate-tech and aerospace VCs after graduating. IAG has not signaled that it leads syndicates or offers pro-rata rights to external co-investors during the accelerator phase.

IAG is the publicly traded parent of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL. Hangar 51 sits inside IAG's innovation group rather than in a separate corporate venture entity, meaning its investment thesis is directly tethered to the operational priorities of IAG's airlines. This structure limits the program's independence relative to standalone venture funds but gives portfolio companies early access to one of Europe's largest airline fleets for pilot testing.

IAG separately operates Flying Start, a philanthropic partnership with Comic Relief focused on children's welfare. Flying Start is not connected to Hangar 51's investment activities. There is no indication that Hangar 51 equity positions or carry are routed into the foundation.