European competition enforcers on Tuesday cleared a $3-billion merger between United and Continental that will create the world’s biggest airline.
The European Commission “concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition” in Europe, where the US carriers service a combined 35 destinations.
The new airline will fly under the United Airlines name and will hold about 7% of global airline capacity. It has a market value of about $6,75-billion.
The deal needs approval from shareholders of the two carriers as well as US anti-trust authorities, who turned down a United-US Airways deal in 2001. — AFP