EU: Regulator raises concerns over IAG/Aer Lingus deal

EU officials are likely to have raised competition concerns over Heathrow landing rights and transatlantic routes with Aer Lingus suitor International Consolidated Airlines Group, in a move that could delay a deal between the two.

The EU Commission’s competition law directorate raised concerns with IAG over some aspects of its €1.4 billion bid for AerLingus at a meeting attended by both companies in Brussels days ago.

The mergers regulator is understood to have questioned whether an IAG takeover of Aer Lingus would hamper competition in the market for valuable landing and take-off slots at London’s Heathrow Airport.

A deal with the Government, that Aer Lingus would retain ownership of its slots and that they would continue to be used to serve routes between the Republic and Heathrow for seven years, was central to getting the coalition to agree to sell the State’s 25.1 per cent stake in the airline last month.

Full content: Independent

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