EU gives go-ahead to British Airways and Iberia to merge and form Europe's 3rd-largest airline

European Union regulators have cleared British Airways PLC and Iberia SA to merge, creating Europe's third largest airline.

The deal is one of several bids by cash-strapped airlines to stay airborne in an industry suffering from the global financial and economic turmoil and wracked by industrial unrest.

The European Commission said it didn't see any antitrust worries with the deal because the new airline will continue to face competition from rivals, even on the London-Madrid and London-Barcelona routes most affected by the deal.

Source:Canadian Business.Com