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.