Airline ownership & control. Why might Europe uphold something its officials call "stupid"?
In Apr-2014, the European Commission began an investigation into "certain non-EU investments in European airlines". These include Delta Air Lines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, Etihad Airways' 29% stake in airberlin and 33% stake in Darwin Airlines (now renamed Etihad Regional), Korean Air's 44% stake in CSA Czech Airlines and HNCA's 35% stake in Cargolux. Any investment by Etihad in Alitalia might also fall into this category.
It is intriguing that the EC is bothering to investigate ownership and control of airlines at all. Europe has done more to liberalise restrictions in this area than any other region in the world. Within the European Union, there are no restrictions, as long as airline and investors are EU nationals. Moreover, Commission officials often publicly state their opposition to the concept (even calling the restrictions "stupid" and "outdated and harmful").
What has motivated these investigations, what are the points of interest in each case and what are their similarities and differences?
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