Opinion of the Advisory Committee on mergers given at its meeting of 4 June 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/M.5335 — Lufthansa/SN Airholding — Rapporteur: Poland
Date: 2009-12-04
Institutions: Advisory Committee on Concentrations
Subjects: advisory committee (EU), air transport, airline, carriage of passengers, economic concentration, freight rate, intra-EU transport, merger control, opinion, restriction on competition








C_2009295EN.01000801.xml










4.12.2009   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 295/8





Opinion of the Advisory Committee on mergers given at its meeting of 4 June 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/M.5335 — Lufthansa/SN Airholding
Rapporteur: Poland
2009/C 295/08






1.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified operation constitutes a concentration within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the EC Merger Regulation.










2.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified transaction can be deemed to have a Community dimension pursuant to Article 1(3) of the EC Merger Regulation.










3.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the markets to be considered are:






(a)


the markets for scheduled passenger air transport services, subdivided on the basis of point of origin/point of destination (O&D) pairs:






—


whereby for short-haul or medium-haul routes, indirect services do not generally constitute a competitive alternative to direct flights,










—


whereby for long-haul routes, indirect services could constitute competitive alternatives to direct flights between a given city pair, as long as (i) the indirect flights are marketed as connecting flights; and (ii) only cause a limited extension of the trip duration (connection time not exceeding 150 minutes);














(b)


the markets for air transport of cargo on a unidirectional basis between Europe and several African countries.














4.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the notified operation as originally proposed by the notifying party, would significantly impede effective competition in the common market or in a substantial part of it with respect to passenger air transport on the following routes:






(a)


Brussels–Frankfurt;










(b)


Brussels–Munich;










(c)


Brussels–Hamburg; and










(d)


Brussels–Zurich.














5.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the commitments submitted by the notifying party are susceptible to restore effective competition and render the concentration compatible with the common market on the following routes:






(a)


Brussels–Frankfurt;










(b)


Brussels–Munich;










(c)


Brussels–Hamburg; and










(d)


Brussels–Zurich.














6.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the notified operation would not significantly impede effective competition in the common market or a substantial part of it with respect to the markets for passenger air transport on other short-haul, medium-haul and long-haul routes.










7.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the notified operation would not significantly impede effective competition in the common market or a substantial part of it with respect to the markets for air transport of cargo.










8.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified concentration should be declared compatible with the common market and with the functioning of the EEA Agreement in accordance with Article 8(2) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement, subject to compliance with the commitments set out in the Annex to this draft decision.