UK low-cost airline easyJet is appealing to the European Court of Justice to cancel the takeover by Air France of Dutch airline KLM.
The airline said it was asking the court to cancel approval by the European Commission for a takeover that creates the biggest airline in the world in terms of sales and the biggest in Europe in terms of traffic.
The company said in a statement explaining its court action that it believed 'consumer choice will be substantially reduced by the Air France and KLM merger'.
Given that the Air France-KLM alliance was likely to set a precedent for all future mergers, 'the European Commission should not have given its approval'.
Arguing that French consumers already had to suffer less choice of airlines and higher prices than elsewhere in Europe, easyJet asserted: 'It was vital that the European Commission not take any steps that would have resulted in a further drop in competition'.
A central part of easyJet's case was that the the two main Paris airports offered few landing and takeoff slots and that 'there are a number of significant barriers to entry that prevent any degree of network competition to Air France'.
However, the commission countered that it stood by its February decision to approve the Air France-KLM merger. 'We have said that we welcome consolidation but we also have adequate remedies in place to facilitate new entries,' commission spokesman Tilman Lueder said.
The EU executive had ordered the two airlines to surrender 94 take-off and landing slots per day to rival carriers to ensure fair competition, he said. 'We think this is a very pro-competitive and pro-consumer result, and we stick by that. It is now for the judges to decide. We have made our line clear,' he added.
The complaint to the court is part of a legal drive by easyJet against what it sees as abuse of a dominant market position by Air France.
On May 10 it said it would take legal action against Cohor, an organisation responsible for allocating landing rights at the main French airports, alleging that it showed a lack of independence from Air France.
In 2003 easyJet became the second-biggest operator on the French market after Air France in terms of traffic, French aviation figures show. Ryanair has also been involved in bitter exchanges with Air France.
