EC allows Air France/KLM merger subject to conditions

EC allows Air France/KLM merger subject to conditions    The European Commission has approved the merger of Air France and KLM, subject to conditions that will require the airlines to surrender take-off and landing slots.
   Describing the Air France/KLM deal as “the first significant merger in the European airline industry,” the EC said the merger plan can go ahead after the companies successfully resolved concerns about reduced competition, mainly between Paris and Amsterdam and between Europe and the United States.
   The EC has requested the surrender of 94 single take-off and landing slots per day. “This will enable rival airlines to start a service where competition would have been eliminated or significantly reduced,” the European executive said.
   The EC has also obtained assurances from the Dutch and the French governments that they would give traffic rights to other carriers wishing to stop over in Amsterdam or Paris en route to U.S. or other non-European Union destinations.
   The EC said the two airlines’ networks are largely complementary.
   “The outcome of this case shows that the long-awaited consolidation of the European airline sector can be done in full respect of competition rules,” said Mario Monti, the EC’s competition commissioner.
   The EC is also still reviewing the impact on competition of the Skyteam alliance between Air France, Alitalia, Delta and others.
   The deal will create the largest airline group in the world, measured in revenues, ahead of American Airlines.