11-Mar-2011 11:41 AM
Aegean Airlines to appeal EC ruling against merger with Olympic
Aegean Airlines Vice Chairman Eftichios Vassilakis stated the carrier would proceed with plans to appeal a decision by the European Commission on its planned merger with Olympic Air (Bloomberg, 11-Mar-2011). The EC prohibited the proposed merger stating it "would have resulted in a quasi-monopoly on the Greek air transport market". The EC added that the merger would "significantly impede effective competition in the internal market or a substantial part of it" adding that elimination of competition would have been harmful for Greek customers, which need to be able to rely on competitive airlines.