Lufthansa and easyJet have received the backing of an EU
court to acquire the assets of failed airline Air Berlin.
Lufthansa was given permission in 2017 to buy Air Berlin’s
subsidiary LG Walter in return for giving up some of its slots at Dusseldorf
airport.
In the same year, easyJet was given clearance to go ahead
with a €40 million deal that included some of Air Berlin’s operations at Tegel
airport, leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft and around 1,000 of the carrier’s
pilots and cabin crew.
LOT Polish Airlines challenged the EU regulator’s decision
to allow the deals to go ahead at the EU General Court, but judges have now thrown
out the complaint, according to Reuters.
Judges said: “The General Court dismisses the actions of
Polskie Linie Lotnicze ‘LOT’ against the Commission decisions authorising the
mergers concerning the acquisition by easyJet and Lufthansa, respectively, of
certain assets of the Air Berlin group.”
LOT has the right to appeal the decision to the EU Court of
Justice.