Lufthansa sees 3 Europe carriers in global 'champions league'

The CE of Lufthansa said he expects the company to take part in more consolidation in the industry that will eventually leave 3 global carriers in Europe. "There are way too many players in Europe," Carsten Spohr told a meeting of the Centre for Aviation Tuesday, noting that 6 airlines had gone bankrupt in the last few months. "It is obvious that consolidation will act further and we as Lufthansa want to be part of that," he said. Lufthansa has been a key player in hectic M&A activity in the industry, snapping up Brussels Airlines and parts of Air Berlin last year to expand in the budget market. Spohr said there were 3 major global airlines in the Chinese, American and Middle East markets and he expected a similar shake-out in Europe. He said consolidation seemed to be happening mostly via bankruptcy rather than airlines buying rivals. <br/>