Austrian Min: Lufthansa Made New Austrian Air Proposal To EU

German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) on Thursday made new proposals to the European Union in its bid to get clearance for its planned takeover of Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI), a spokesman for the Austrian finance ministry told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

Lufthansa spokesman Andreas Bartels also said there are new proposals. Both declined to be more specific.

Earlier Thursday, the Austrian finance ministry issued a press statement in which Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell welcomed Lufthansa's new, modified offer for Austrian Air.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, later issued a statement that said it "can confirm that it has received a new offer from Lufthansa in the context of its ongoing in-depth investigation of Lufthansa's proposed takeover of Austrian Airlines."

"The Commission will study the offer carefully but cannot make any further comment at this stage," it said.

Earlier Thursday Austrian newspaper Der Standard cited unnamed commission sources as saying Lufthansa has submitted a revised offer, which includes dropping flights between Vienna and Frankfurt and Vienna and Geneva.

Company Web sites: www.lufthansa.com; www.bmf.gv.at; www.aua.com; http://ec.europa.eu

-By Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]