UPDATE: EU OKs Lufthansa To Buy SN Brussels, 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.

Under the terms of the deal, Lufthansa is paying EUR65 million to buy 45% of the company, with an option to buy the rest of the business in 2011.

The commission is still investigating a separate deal where Lufthansa is planning to buy Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI). The regulator currently has a July 1 deadline to clear the deal or launch an in-depth probe.

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