Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of joint control over Meridiana by Qatar Airways and Alisarda
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of joint control over Meridiana fly S.p.A. of Italy, by Qatar Airways of Qatar and Alisarda of Italy. Meridiana is an airline that operates scheduled and charter passenger services and cargo services to destinations in Europe and Northern Africa and some destinations in the Americas and Asia. Through its subsidiaries, it is also active in aircraft maintenance services as well as tour operating and travel agency services. Qatar Airways is a full-service airline that operates international scheduled passenger air and cargo services. Alisarda is a holding company already controlling Meridiana. The activities of Meridiana and Qatar Airways overlap in a number of routes where at least one of the two parties flies indirectly (with a stopover) and the other directly or indirectly, mainly out of Milan and Rome. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns, as the companies’ activities on the overlapping routes are very limited or these routes have a very low traffic density. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.8361.

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