EU clears British Midland-Lufthansa-SAS deal
The European Commission is set to clear a joint venture between British Midland, Lufthansa German Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) after the carriers agreed to surrender four daily slots on the busy London Heathrow-Frankfurt route.
The go-ahead for the deal, which covers revenue-sharing on about 20 routes from Heathrow and Manchester to Germany and Scandinavia, as well as joint marketing, marks a major step toward the consolidation of Europe’s airline industry. Lufthansa and SAS each own 20 percent of British Midland – Britain’s second-largest airline after British Airways – and all three are members of the Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline partnership.
Lufthansa, which has operated a passenger and cargo joint venture with SAS since 1996, wants to strike similar deals with its other European partners in the alliance.
The Commission is expected to approve the latest joint venture by the end of March on the eve of British Midland’s debut on the North Atlantic with flights from Manchester to Washington and Chicago.
