Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Austrian Airlines AG won EU antitrust approval to share routes between Germany and Austria after agreeing to give competitors a piece of the market.
The European Commission exempted the alliance from competition regulations until the end of 2005 after the carriers gave rival airlines as many as 40 percent of their takeoff and landing times for flights between Germany and Austria.
"Without the commission's action, there would have a been a monopoly, which would not have been in the consumer's interest," Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said in a statement.
The commission threatened to block the accord last year since Lufthansa, Europe's No. 2 airline, and its Austrian partner operated almost all flights on the 33 routes linking the two countries.
The carriers are members of the Star Alliance, the biggest airline grouping, which also includes UAL Corp's United Airlines.
Since then, Slovenia-based Adria Airways has begun flying twice a day between Frankfurt and Vienna while Air Alps has started flights between Vienna and Stuttgart. Two other airlines may enter the market as well, the EU's executive arm said.
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