Vueling/Clickair merger expected to pass EC test

"The European Commission is expected to announce today the outcome of its first-stage review of the proposed merger of Clickair and Vueling Airlines.Shareholders of the two Barcelona-based LCCs agreed on the terms of a merger in July and an initial submission was filed to Spanish competition authority CNC, which in August referred the file to the EU's DG-Competition (ATWOnline, July 8, 2008). The EC has asked the carriers for remedies, mainly slot surrenders at BCN on certain routes (to Seville, for example), in order to address competition issues and possible market dominance, a source close to the discussions told ATWOnline.Insiders expect the EC to approve the merger based on the latest exchange of remedies, which took place Monday, although they noted that the opening of a more in-depth second-stage investigation is possible. The blocking of the merger is regarded as unlikely." La suite.