Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS) may have to give up valuable slots at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, or make other concessions to win approval for their merger from Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
The airlines are studying a report on the FTC's concerns. A combined JAL/JAS would hold at least 60% of slots at Haneda, Asia's busiest airport. The enlarged carrier would also control around 80% of international traffic.
The FTC has warned JAL and JAS their merger may violate Japan's anti-monopoly law, although a final FTC decision is not expected until early April. JAL and JAS revealed plans to merge last November in a bid to challenge All Nippon Airways', Japan's biggest domestic carrier.
The move is expected to save the airlines hundreds of millions of dollars.
Source: Flight International
