Julian Moxon/PARIS
THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) has given its approval to the alliance between Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), but is demanding that each yield certain routes to their competitors, and abandon existing marketing agreements with other airlines.
Lufthansa chairman Jurgen Weber calls the outcome a "fair compromise", while SAS chief executive Jan Stenberg comments that the two airlines can live with the conditions imposed by the EC.
Approval had been expected and runs along the lines of the Sabena-Swissair decision in 1995, in which the alliance was seen as a natural continuation of the liberalisation process. "Alliances such as this help reduce costs and allow European airlines stand up to competition from US carriers," says the EC.
Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert has placed four conditions on the deal, however, which remain effective until 31 October, 2002. They are:
The two carriers must abandon eight daily slots on routes from Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Oslo and Stockholm to airlines wishing to operate them;
- if another carrier wants to operate any of the routes, Lufthansa and SAS will not be allowed to increase frequencies on those routes by more than one per day;
- new entrants must be offered interlining opportunities and frequent-flier agreements with Lufthansa and SAS;
- the two carriers must end their respective agreements with other airlines. These include SAS' European Quality Alliance accord with Austrian and Swissair; Lufthansa's marketing-alliance agreement with Transwede and its deal with Finnair on routes between Scandinavia and Germany.
The agreement foresees operational and commercial commonality for services between Germany and Sweden, but with the identities of each airline remaining intact. Worldwide operations will be integrated, with the introduction of a common route and fare structure.
Source: Flight International
