The European Union's executive on Tuesday approved the merger between US air carriers United and Continental, saying the tie-up would not harm competition in Europe, dpi reported
The European Commission is charged with enforcing the bloc's strict competition rules and has the right to block mergers if it holds that they would give rise to a monopoly or near-monopoly.
However, the United-Continental merger "would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it," the commission said in a statement.
The EEA consists of the EU's 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Both United and Continental operate transatlantic flights, and their merger could, in theory, have therefore led to a concentration of power in the hands of the merged company.
But commission experts argued that the airlines have different hubs in the US, and therefore operate different direct routes. That means that the merged company would not have significantly more control of key routes than the current companies do.
Moreover, flights to Europe make up only a small proportion of either airline's total operations. Nine of United's 230 destinations are in Europe, and 26 of Continental's international routes.
The investigation therefore "confirmed the complementary nature of United's and Continental's respective networks as regards transatlantic EEA-US routes, and the fact that their combination will not give rise to concerns on any specific route," the commission said.