EU OKs Lufthansa To Buy SN Brussels Airlines, With Conditions

The European Commission Monday cleared Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) to buy SN Airholding, the parent company of SN Brussels Airlines, with the condition that the carrier give competitors access to four routes.

The commission in January launched an in-depth investigation into the deal, saying it was worried that the combined airlines "could significantly impede effective competition," particularly for routes between Belgium and Germany and Belgium and Switzerland.

To remedy this concern, Lufthansa offered to give other airlines access to routes between Brussels and Frankfurt, Brussels and Munich, Brussels and Hamburg and Brussels and Zurich.

"The comprehensive remedies package offered by Lufthansa will facilitate market entry on the affected routes and thereby create alternative choices for passengers," the commission's top antitrust official, Neelie Kroes, said in a statement.

-By Adam Cohen, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]