国际英语新闻：Lufthansa wins EU approval to buy Brussels Airlines

BRUSSELS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Lufthansa won approval on Monday from European Union (EU) antitrust regulators to buy its Belgian rival Brussels Airlines after offering certain remedies to alleviate antitrust concerns.

    "The comprehensive remedy package offered by Lufthansa will facilitate market entry on the affected routes and thereby create alternative choices for passengers," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

    The European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, opened an in-depth inquiry in January to further investigate the potential impact of the proposed transaction on passenger transport on a number of routes from Belgium to Germany, and Belgium to Switzerland.

    The in-depth investigation confirmed that the transaction, as originally notified, would have raised competition concerns on the routes from Brussels to Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Zurich.

    To address these concerns, Lufthansa submitted a set of remedies, offering an efficient and timely slot allocation mechanism that would allow new entrants to operate flights on each of the four routes where the commission had concerns.

    In the light of the commitments, the commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the EU.

    Lufthansa is a full-service air carrier with hubs at Frankfurt and Munich airports, and a base at Dusseldorf airport, while Brussels Airlines is active in the transport of both passengers and cargo mainly in Europe and to some destinations in Africa.

    Kroes said in the light of the current consolidation process in the European airline sector, the commission takes great care to safeguard the interests of consumers in having a competitive choice of airline services in Europe.