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EU's airline offer requires fuel doubts over further attempts

It took a year of wrangling with the European Commission for Germany's Lufthansa to gain approval to purchase 41% of Italy's ITA Airways, and only after it accepted big concessions.

While the deal broadens Lufthansa's footprint in the rewarding southern European market, the combined group will have to cede some routes and slots to competitors for it to continue. Market executives, financiers and specialists say greater examination of such tie-ups by European regulators and demands for treatments might hinder major airlines from additional deals. British Airways-owner IAG has been in the crosshairs because 2019 when it revealed strategies to purchase Spanish carrier Air Europa, with an EU due date of Aug. 20 for concessions, while regulators are also expected to probe Air France-KLM's plan to purchase 19.9% of Scandinavian carrier SAS.

Airline executives have actually long said consolidation is required to aid balance out soaring operating costs, helping providers recover from the COVID-19 pandemic which brought worldwide travel to a stop and the travel sector to the verge.

But regulators fret Europe's three largest groups, IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, are ending up being too dominant, possibly hurting consumer choice and making flying less economical.

We can see that Europe is ending up being increasingly more careful about this wave of debt consolidation, stated Piotr Grobelny at aviation data analysis company IBA.

The next prospect for privatisation is Portugal's TAP. However Lisbon's plans have actually been thrown off course by political turmoil, in spite of interest from Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG.

TAP CEO Luis Rodrigues said last month that the new centre-right government ought to not sell 100% of the airline company and need to likewise generate non-aviation investors, like private equity.

That could reduce issues in Brussels about the potential for a market dominated by a handful of big airline groups.

One banker dealing with mergers stated that airlines watch out for losing time, cash in legal charges and needing to give up important take-off and landing slots in order to get clearance for offers.

More complex deals can use up to two years to complete, stated Martina Farkas, M&A partner at Linklaters, adding: Offers. are taking longer and are ending up being more complicated and expensive.

It can not be ruled out that tactically important deals. attracting regulatory attention might have the potential to be. delayed and face more obstacles, Farkas told .

NO CONCESSIONS

Dealmaking can also be complicated due to the fact that governments often. hold stakes in national providers which they consider as tactical. assets too important to fail.

Britain's Monarch collapsed in 2017 and FlyBe has entered into. administration, however lots of other airlines were kept afloat with. taxpayer funds, particularly throughout the pandemic.

Previous EU antitrust commissioner Didier Reynders informed the. Financial Times in 2015 that regulators would look for harder. concessions from those looking to merge to ensure fair. competitors and decrease market concentration of the big 3. This has actually been at the heart of IAG's fight to buy Air Europa. It. has actually offered more concessions, such as making 52% of Air Europa's. flights available to competitors, to ease concerns over its Iberian. market supremacy, and assuring regulators it will not decrease. competitors on long-haul routes to South America.

IAG said on Wednesday it was glad that the Commission. acknowledged the advantages of airline company consolidation. Its shares. increased more than 5% on anticipation that the ITA offer approval. made its takeover of Air Europa more likely to be offered the. thumbs-up.

IAG has 50% of slots at Madrid's primary airport and 47% at. Barcelona's primary airport, according to an analysis of IBA data.

Executives stress that the Commission will make demands that. are almost impossible to fulfill, stopping dealmaking.

The alternative to debt consolidation happening is that. airline companies will continue to be funded by governments, and that's. simply even worse,? easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren informed .

BUDGET PLAN PROVIDERS

Other experts indicate the rise of affordable providers as an. location overlooked by competition authorities.

In Lufthansa's ITA purchase, numerous have actually indicated Ryanair's. supremacy in Italy, where it has a more than 40% market share.

But competition authorities had not factored the Irish. budget airline company into their evaluations because they do not. consider Lufthansa and ITA to be direct rivals.

Ryanair uses more flights than any other airline in Europe. with 11.49% of the overall, an IBA analysis programs. Lufthansa and. IAG are simply behind, with 9.54% and 8.2% respectively.

(source: Reuters)