EasyJet appeals against merger clearance

Published on Wednesday 19 May 2004 01:00

BUDGET airline easyJet has launched a legal challenge to the merger between Air France and KLM on the grounds it would substantially reduce consumer choice.

Europe’s second-largest no-frills carrier after Ryanair said it had submitted an appeal to the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, requesting it to annul the European Commission’s clearance of the Air France-KLM merger.

Ray Webster, chief executive of Luton-based easyJet, said: "It is clear that, in its current form, the Air France and KLM merger strengthens the dominant position of Air France and would set a worrying precedent for all future consolidation."

The low-cost carrier has already complained bitterly about the allocation of take-off and landing slots at French airports, particularly Air France’s dominance at Paris Orly.

EasyJet said last week that it planned to file a complaint in a French court against Cohor, the agency that assigns slots at French airports, alleging it was too close to Air France.

The EC had failed to consider the impact of the Air France-KLM merger on the "impregnable dominance" of the two airlines at their respective hubs in Paris and Amsterdam, easyJet added.

Brussels cleared the Air France-KLM merger in February.