EU approves Lufthansa takeover of Air Berlin assets, sets conditions

Brussels (dpa) - The European Commission has cleared Lufthansa‘s partial takeover of its insolvent rival Air Berlin, as long as the German aviation giant sticks to concessions aimed at avoiding excessive market dominance. In October, Lufthansa made a 210-million-euro (249-million-euro) bid for the partial takeover of Germany‘s second-biggest carrier, which filed for insolvency in August. It later dropped Air Berlin‘s low-cost subsidiary Niki from the deal, amid EU competition concerns, leaving the Austrian airline to declare insolvency. The commission - the European Union‘s competition watchdog - agreed Thursday to Lufthansa‘s takeover of the remaining Air Berlin assets it had bid for, under the condition that the airline restricts its operations at Duesseldorf airport.The assets are all formally registered under Air Berlin subsidiary LG Walter. "Our job is to make sure that mergers do not make European consumers worse off," said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.During the summer months, Lufthansa has agreed to hold no more than 50 per cent of slots at Duesseldorf, the commission said. This would allow it to operate two additional planes from the airport. "This addresses our competition concerns, so we approved the proposed acquisition today under EU merger rules," Vestager added.The commission has separately allowed the British low-cost carrier Easyjet to take over part of Air Berlin‘s operations, notably at Berlin‘s Tegel airport.