Austrian Airlines' membership of the Star Alliance has been called into question following a European Commission ruling. The EC says it has "serious concerns" about co-operation proposals linking Austrian with Star members Lufthansa and SAS, and will not grant them anti-trust immunity.
The Commission says "the agreements would eliminate competition on a large number of routes between Austria and Germany and raise similar concerns on the Austrian-Nordic aviation market."
It says that Austrian and Lufthansa have almost 100% of the air traffic between Austria and Germany and that road and rail transport competition is limited.
The EC says its ruling is the first in its investigation and if the companies do not address the Commission's concerns, it could lead to a prohibition decision.
Source: Flight International
