An in depth investigation is being executed into the planned merger of Olympic Airlines and Aegean by the European Commission, citing ‘”serious concerns” of competition distortion.
“The Commission should ensure that consumers and businesses will continue to have competitive air service options, particularly at a time of difficult economic conditions” said JoaquĆn Almunia, Competition Commissioner.
The Commission’s initial market investigation has shown that the proposed merger may give rise to serious problems in competition. In particular, the fact that the new company will have very large market shares, if not a monopoly on all domestic routes and some international routes.
The Commission has serious doubts about the compatibility of this operation, regarding the regulation to concentrations of the mandatory provision of public service routes in Greece and the provision of groundhandling services in Greece.
The Commission’s decision to initiate an in depth investigation does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.The Commission has now until December 7th to obtain a final decision as to whether the merger would prevent the exercise of effective competition in the European economic area (EEA).
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