Brussels approves Delta's bid for Northwest Airlines

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BRUSSELS (AFP) — EU regulators on Wednesday approved a bid by Delta Airlines of the United States for its smaller rival Northwest, smoothing the way towards the creation of the world's biggest airline.

The European Commission announced it had decided "that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it."

Delta, the third-largest US airline, is attempting to acquire Northwest, the number five US carrier, in a takeover that would create the largest airline in the world in an 18-billion-dollar merger announced in April.

"From the European perspective, the activities of the parties overlap in the provision of scheduled air passenger and cargo transport between Europe and the...