The EU Commission decided Thursday to close its interim measures antitrust proceedings against Lufthansa, finding that not all the conditions for ordering interim measures under the EU’s Article 8 of Regulation 1/2003 were met.
The proceedings aimed at ordering the airline to reinstate Condor’s access to Lufthansa’s feed traffic to and from Frankfurt airport under the conditions the two airlines agreed upon in June 2024.
The Commission initiated the interim measures proceedings in the context of a broader investigation into a potential restriction of competition on transatlantic routes to/from several European Economic Area (‘EEA’) airports by the A++ transatlantic joint venture (‘JV’) between Lufthansa, United and Air Canada, which was opened on 7 August 2024.
On the same day, the Commission sent Lufthansa a Statement of Objections where it preliminarily concluded that interim measures were required. Subsequently, the Commission sent Lufthansa a Supplementary Statement of Objections on 15 January 2025. The Commission’s investigation focused on whether interim measures were required to prevent damage to competition on the Frankfurt-New York route following the end of special feed traffic arrangements between Condor and Lufthansa in December 2024.
Following further consideration of all available evidence, the Commission has decided to close its interim measures proceedings on the basis that not all of the legal conditions for ordering interim measures were met. This comes without prejudice to the ongoing investigation in the main proceedings as the Commission continues investigating the compatibility of the A++ transatlantic joint venture with EU competition rules on transatlantic routes.
Further information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number AT.40940
